I love learning more about people by hearing their stories. Some of you, I haven't heard your story. Now is your chance. I want to learn more about YOU.

So, here's what you need to do. Simply put, share your story with me. I want to hear where you have been, where you are going, and how you got to where you are now. Feel free to be as open as you want. I don't need to know anything that you aren't willing to share.

I will choose a winner Friday, July 5 July 12 sometime after I get home from work. The winner will receive an item $20 or under from their wishlist. I may pick multiple winners depending on what my checking account looks like.

Go ahead and share your stories! Love you all. Stay beautiful.

EDIT: I just learned that I don't get paid until July 12, so i will be gifting then. Meaning that until then you can continue to share your story.

CONTEST IS CLOSED.

All I have to say is.. Wow. I read every single story, and some of them brought me to tears. Some of you have seen some shit, but yet you have emerged victoriously as a beautiful creature full of life. I love all of you. Will be making a [Gifted] post shortly.

I was 15 on 9-11 and my dad left his job to enlist in the Army Reserve. He was immediately deployed to Iraq. I didn't admit to anyone but it rocked me pretty hard. I became obsessed with my boyfriend, so obsessed that when we graduated I panicked and asked him to marry me. After a day of arguing, he agreed. His new Army career offered a paycheck for it, but we were smart enough to know 18 is a really stupid age to get married.

We did it anyway, we just didn't tell anyone.

6 months later I bailed on my university scholarship so I could move to his training base. We also finally told our families that we were married. A few months later, it dawned on me that it was a bad idea. Before I could make new plans, we found out he was going to be deployed to Iraq. Once he graduated, we moved back home and I found out he’d been having an affair. I almost lost my mind trying to fix our marriage. I resorted to self-destruction, before coming up with the solution of joining the military myself.

Because I'm a genius.

When I graduated BCT, he left the States. He cut me off emotionally, and then he told me I was free to do whatever I wanted.

--OK, let's pause here. This is where things get wild. Up until then I’d been faithful, even with the affair and being oversexed. Now he was taking me off the leash. I ignored my conscience and took him up on the offer.

I’m sure you remember "that girl"--I was her for the rest of my training. And it. Was. Awesome. Nearly every weekend I was in a new hotel, with a new guy (sometimes with a few at once).

He visited me when I graduated and we decided to ease up on the outside stuff, but keep the focus on making it through no matter what. At Hood I learned I’d be headed to Iraq 6 months later…1 month after my husband came home. Panic and depression overtook me easily. Trying NOT to sleep around drove me back to self-destruction, until he told me that was worse.

Once he came home, we tried to act like nothing was wrong. It was our bit of time together, so it was like a vacation. The rule was still "make it through whatever the cost." I remember watching him from the bus window as it pulled away, trying not to cry--not because saying goodbye was hard. I was used to that. Rather, because I knew I wouldn’t be coming home to him.

Iraq was nothing special--I was lucky enough to work indoors, but I worked 12-hour days, 6 days a week (at least), for 15 months (hooray, surge). The running joke was the only bullets we had to dodge were the ones on PowerPoint slides. However, we were the ones who had to analyze the behavior of all of the "bad" guys. You know, the ones who just wanted to protect their own people? Yeah. Shitty doesn’t begin to describe it.

Before long I started getting close to a friend, and my husband admitted he had feelings for someone too. I finally reneged on my "I’ll never leave" promise of our youth, and suggested a divorce. We both knew we’d become strangers; the most we had in common was our last name.

Unbeknownst to me, the guy I'd become close to had issues with an ex. One day he just asked me never speak to him again. I was baffled, but within a few weeks I decided to focus on sex again. After a poker game I went home with another soldier. He invited me back the next 2 nights for encores. That became my summer of sex; I spent my days working, trying not to think about home, and I spent my nights with men. The guy from the poker game became a regular for me. I realized I was falling for him a few months into it, so I fought the feeling until it got to be too much. He never felt the same, even after I got up the nerve to tell him.

Coming home was one of the best feelings of my life. I immediately began spending my combat pay--a brand new truck, a dog, furniture, a new computer, and dozens of impulse purchases. I wanted to put my feelings behind me, but it wasn’t so easy. When he started dating a local waitress, I figured I should move on, too. Enter online dating.

My second duty station (part of a re-enlistment deal, as a means to escape a second deployment) was also in TX. The unit seemed attractive, despite being in El Paso. I searched there, and found someone who was also stationed at that base. He was attractive, genial, quirky, and I wanted to meet him.

2 months after moving to El Paso, I decided to move in with him. 1 month later, I took my 2 dogs and moved out. The dating site had failed to mention his suicidal-level PTSD (which clashed horribly with my attempts to forget Iraq) and codependency issues.

As soon as I was settled in my place, I returned to my old hobby. This time I used other online sites to bring men to me. I was getting much better at the game, and I loved it. Work was another story. I was becoming bitter and hateful toward everything military. I was even recommended for therapy, and soon afterward I had an incident in which I nearly assaulted an officer: after months of making training schedules, they put me in a room with a bunch of strangers so we could all act out a "real battlefield operation" which turned out to be based on my own deployment.

That was my first stay in a mental ward. I was so angry I could hardly see straight for a day. I was there for 3 weeks, and all I remember is that I snuck into some of the other patients' rooms so we could have sex. I begged an early release so I could be home on my birthday for once.

Turns out, that was a bad call. During the drive, I turned to check on my dogs and drifted off the road at 80mph. This turned into fishtailing, and a tree stopped my rolling truck. Thanks to the magic of seatbelts and pickups, I climbed out without a scratch. My older dog was fine but my puppy had broken her spine. My parents had to drive for 3 hours to pick us up.

What followed was a family drama about why I deserved help. My mom didn't believe I merited a co-signing to put me in another truck, and threw in other negative remarks about my character. Her concerns worried me enough that I chose one of the first trucks on the lot (not a great buying technique). She began hounding me about payments, so I stopped talking to her.

In addition to becoming estranged from my family and watching my dog get put down, I had to move out of my house. I was responsible for 2 truck payments (I’d been cutting corners with my insurance since the base didn’t pay SGTs for housing), so I moved into the barracks. I had to give up my dog to a strange family.

Shortly after moving out of my home, the Army hit me again: during their review of my eligibility for a debt waiver (due to getting divorced while deployed) they found an error from my first year. APPARENTLY, both my husband and I’d been paid separation and BAH, which isn’t allowed. At this point, he was out of the military. Since I was the lower rank back then, I was the one responsible (even though I’d no knowledge of any of it). So I owed them $6,000.

I lost my truck, my dogs, my home, I couldn't speak to my family, and now I couldn't afford to eat. I didn't have a reason to get out of bed.
That became my second visit to the mental ward. This time, I was dealing with depression, and they diagnosed me as Bipolar. Somehow I wound up meeting an incredible young man there, though. After we got out, we started dating and worked on supporting each other with our issues.

When my medical board got kicked back after 9 months of waiting, I lost it. I had no reason to work, and I told my superiors I was seriously considering setting my uniforms on fire. That was the third time I was institutionalized. This one was only for 6 days, although one of them was my birthday. The other patients appreciated the therapist’s cake, but I didn’t.

I finally got out of the Army a few months later, and returned to my hometown. I enrolled in the university I’d left 6 years prior, and got a part-time job. My bf and I adopted a puppy and moved into a house. Happily Ever...

Not so fast. It seems I have issues. I can't handle being with a perfect man. He liked cuddling, watching chick flicks, making dinner, driving an economically-sensible vehicle, and basically doing almost everything women want. I hated it. I hated it so much that I kicked him out of our room, and after my puppy was stolen I gave up and moved out. I just can’t be with a man who doesn't act like a typical man. I have been with way too many men to settle for the girly ones.

I got an apartment near my new school, and eased back into my old ways. By eased I mean, jumped right in. It seemed one of the biggest problems had been that I was not having sex enough. Go figure.

I fixed that right quick, and proceeded to fix it again, and again. I think you get the idea.

Once again, I started falling for someone. This time I just accepted it and tried to focus on other things. When that particular guy suddenly stopped talking to me (after becoming close friends) I was more than a bit frustrated. So I went backing to having lots of sex. It's a pretty common solution for me.

Everything was going smoothly, until my neighbors finally introduced themselves. One costume party and endless game of beer pong later, I decided I’d nail the guy upstairs.
Me and that guy? Still together, 8 months later (although to be fair, the first month we were banging just as friends).

What’s different? Well for starters, I am on better medication, and go to therapy often. Also, he likes dogs, trucks, and football (I excuse the Cowboys fan thing). He was a Marine and we even have the same major. Coincidence, that.

It mostly works because we have a huge mutual interest: sex. We do it nearly every day, sometimes twice. We are naked if we are inside, so sometimes it just happens unintentionally. We share a whole lot of other interests (like reading Reddit to each other from across the room), but that is what really keeps our relationship afloat.

So, that's where I am today. Still Bipolar, but most of my days are good ones (especially if I get laid)

Just a footnote here--I maxed out the characters in this post but I wanted to say thank you for taking the time to read it.

About halfway through I kind of stopped caring about the contest and became much more interested in sharing my experiences; the military is different for everyone but few people really know how rough it can get. If I ever finish my memoirs, that is the message I hope they carry

I was born in Kansas to two people from other states. My mom was from Illinois (Chicago area) and My dad from Missouri, near Saint Louis. They moved here to allow my mom to pursue a career in art & design at the corporate Hallmark Cards location. She's been working there ever since. I am the second oldest of 4 kids, and while my father strongly suggested I follow a more business/accounting route in life, I decided to follow in my mother's footsteps. From the first time I stepped into Hallmark I knew I'd work in some field pertaining to art or design. I took a Graphic Design class in high school at a specialized school and my teacher loved me. I think I loved the class a little too much, as every project she had for me, I'd turn in 4 versions for. I had 104% in the class and I'm pretty sure everyone else in there hated me. But I didn't care. I went on to compete at a State event for graphic design and took best for the state of Kansas which won me some pretty awesome Prismacolor markers and a little scholarship for college. My first two semesters I worked my ass off in my design courses and again, was completely head over heels in love, until the day came to schedule our classes for Sophomore year. I had taken a Math class, and.. well.. I went into Design for a reason. Math was never a strong subject of mine, and though I managed to get by with a C+ (I KNOW OKAY?!) I didn't make it into the Graphic Design program. I was 2 people away, because it was based on GPA, and not portfolio. I was heartbroken. I could choose to re-apply for the school in another year, but that would mean a year of school down the drain. I was determined to graduate in 4, and so I switched my major to Expanded Media, as they didn't have a Photography Degree. 5 classmates and myself decided to fight for a Photo degree, as we were the 5 people taking EVERY photo class offered and there was nothing we wanted more. We made it happen. We even convinced them to make our previous photo classes count as credit so we could graduate on time. Ever since then, I've been trying to revamp my portfolio, buy a nice new camera, and find a job in my field. I can mark one of those off the list now, and while it's only one of 3, it's the biggest one, because it's the first step. I can't wait to see what happens from now on, but I know no matter what, if I keep pushing ahead, I can achieve great things. :)

I came out as transgender when I was 14 (I am now 20). My Roman Catholic parents scoffed and ignored me, but my eleven siblings were all very supportive and so were my friends and high school teachers. The next four years of my life were incredibly difficult -- dealing with depression, self-harm, rejection from my parents, etc. When I was 16 I was admitted to a psych unit of a hospital because I wasn't safe at home and my friends were worried about my mental stability. While at the hospital, my parents started to realize the affect that their lack of support had on me. (This didn't stop them from screaming at me to just "be a girl" during our family therapy, however). Once I got out of the hospital nothing changed and all of my coping skills that I had learned went out the window and I was back in my crap place. I fought my parents until I was 18 and then I legally changed my name and sex on all of my legal documents and I started taking testosterone injections. I am currently 7 weeks post-op (top surgery) and have never been happier. My father and I don't talk anymore, but my mom and I do. When I went to college I gave them the ultimatum: Either start supporting and accepting me or they would not be seeing me very often. My mom broke down and said she would love me no matter what and my dad stood firm and said if he didn't understand something, he wasn't going to support it. In August I will be two years self-harm free. I am involved in a serious long-term relationship and my life is finally in a stable place.

I just wrote my story, balled my eyes out, and erased it. I can open myself up to anyone that asks but I just can't go balls out so I'm doing a tldr instead.

I'm 26, and a mother of one absolutely perfect 19 month old son. I've lived in multiple states and multiple countries. My family lives nowhere near me, and I miss them like the sky would miss the sun.

I've been molested as a teenager, and shunned from all of my friends at that time because I was a "weirdo". I've done drugs, cut myself, and been beat almost to death, and I've overcome all of that shit.

I'm a strong, opinionated, loud-mouthed woman. I'm independent and prideful. I'm lazy and an overachiever. My heart literally breaks when I find out someone doesn't like me. I try really hard to be really good to people because I want people to know they deserve someone in their life that's good to them, there for them. I always strive to be better because I always feel I'm not good enough. I always fuck things up when I try so hard to keep them perfect.

Every part of me is due to what I've been through in my 26 years. I have no idea where my biological father is. I know nothing more than his name. He's a useless scumbag who left me when I was less than 2 years old. I've been to jail. I've broken hearts. I've mended hearts. I've worked in a lot of different industries. I work in a dead end non-profit job that I absolutely adore but cannot make enough money at. I'm in school pursuing a degree that I'm positive I won't achieve because I'm not smart enough. I graduated high school. I've bought my own cars. I pay my own bills. I make my own money. I support me. I've never had a good best friend, or many friends at that, until these last 3 years. I've never been to parties. I've never done anything overly exciting.

That's my story. That's who I am (apparently more of who I am that what my story is, so maybe I disqualified myself). That's all of me..just without the shitty in between details.

I am 37 i have 6 kids (4 girl 2 boys) 4 still at home and two grandsons. I love to read and spend time with family and friends.When all the kids move out I want to travel all over the world. I have this dream of learning new cultures from all walks of the earth.

I am a girl who just wrote 9 pages and I'm still not finished. But I can't write anymore. It was really therapeutic so thank you for that.

Anyway, I am someone who was not okay, starving and cutting and on suicide watch in a psych ward. And I defined myself by other people. I was co-dependent and could not function alone. My world revolved around the abusive men that I dated.

Then one day I took a risk, an offer from a school in England. I went. And it was hard. I didn't know how to function without someone else. But this amazing thing happened, I started talking to people and people liked me. Me! They were asking me to lunch, if I wanted to study, if I wanted to hang out and go out. I, at 23, for the first time, had friends and was living. I traveled to places I was scared to go, I walked alone to meet people, terrified they wouldn't be there when I arrived. I sat in a common room and was content to speak and not speak. I am alive. That's who I am.

I ditched the boyfriend and spent time on me and ya know what..I'm kinda fun. I mean, I have self doubt and I'm scared of social things but I force myself to go out and meet people. And I'm doing it again. I have another school offer, this time in Scotland, and I'm going. I don't know anyone, I've only been to the city once. I'm broke and terrified but I am really excited because I think this is what life is supposed to be. And I want to live. So I am. I never thought I could, I was damn sure I was going to die at my own hands. I was actively trying to die. 9 years later I think I've almost got the hang of this thing. I am living.

My life story would be really long and weird and disjointed, but I can give some highlights!

I was born and raised in a fancy rich Boston suburb, under a minute's walk from the ocean. My family was almost definitely the poorest family there, and we lived there only because my parents were more or less indentured servants to our landlord's family.

My parents were and are alcoholics, and as some of the children of alcoholics tend to do, I grew into a tiny adult at a young age. I essentially parented my younger sister (a year behind me), and as I got older I took on more and more of the household responsibilities.

By the time I was 12, I finally had a rebellious streak and absolutely no parental supervision. That was the beginning of nearly a decade of treating my body like trash. I was having fun and it was generally a good part of my life, but many of the health problems that I have now are a direct result of the choices I made then.

I spent as much time online then as I do now, and was super involved with Neopets (yep yep, so cool I can't stand it). I had been on the site since shortly after its inception, and had made a lot of friends there. One of them was childhood internet crush Jay (who is /u/MarbhDamhsa here). The summer when I was 12 was the first time he flew out to visit me (more neglectful parents, yes). The next time he visited, we started non-exclusively dating.

His visits were pretty few and far between (as with many LDRs), and since we were non-exclusive, I went from dramatic, crazy relationship to dramatic, crazy relationship. I was a terrible person and I manipulated and cheated on quite a number of people then (say ages 14-17).

When I was 17, Jay moved in. My parents weren't particularly in agreement with this plan, but I paid the majority of household expenses and was a complete brat about it. We decided then that we'd never be exclusive, and found out that this thing called "polyamory" existed. Yeah, we're that.

I wasn't allowed to go to college (by my parents), and intended not to. My senior year English teacher had me stay after class and cried to me about how I was ruining my life and asked me to take the SATs, and I did. Applied to one state school instead of the "good" schools I was expected to be accepted into. Got in. Moved there, family did not speak to me for the next three years.

I had some more interesting relationships during this time, and also spent a summer abroad in Arles, France. Had a French lover which I feel like everyone should do once. Had a girlfriend who was living art and a heroin addict, and that's was the second-longest-running relationship of my life to date (a month short of 4 years). Didn't graduate.

I moved back to Boston suburbs, got handfasted (and legally married) in the middle of a 4 day party in the woods, and moved around a lot. Eventually got this job I have now (been here 2 years), and moved 3 more times. Was force "outed" to my family as bisexual and kind of as poly by an ex girlfriend. Possibly my job as well but I can't tell.

Also joined here, big part of my life, and had a lot of things happen. Also, met my boyfriend /u/Qu1nlan here :) and I'm going to see him in September, and then more things will happen.

My story is not incredibly interesting, at least not to me. I was born on the east coast, but grew up in Seattle and Salt Lake City. I played football in high school and even started on the team, but all my friends had nothing to do with sports and we'd spend the days playing Diablo II for hours on end (with some Starcraft thrown in there to spice things up).

After High School, I went to college for a year and then went on a 2 year mission for my church (not hard to guess which one) in Germany. Yes, I can speak German (someone always asks). After that it was back to college and shortly after returning I met my wife.

We got married 4 years ago and had our first, and only so far, kid 2 years ago. He makes me so happy it's just silly. I graduated from college a year ago and, after living at my parent's house and working at Target for a year, we're heading off to Arizona for physical therapy school in 2 weeks.

The best things in my life have happened in the last 7 years, and the very best in the last 5. Money is tight for us, and it will be for a bit, but we're happy and we love each other. Life is good for us.

That being said, life will hopefully getting much better in 3 years when I can start my career and have money.

Im not really good at these things but here it goes.
I was born in 1987 to two amazing parents, I have suffered from social anxiety for years and just within the last couple years I have found ways to overcome it and my life has changed for the better. I work at a big name retail discount store. This job is one of the single most reason I have been able to overcome the anxiety. Getting ready to celebrate my 2nd wedding anniversary and currently trying to start a family :)

Hmm.... I've never been known as a man of many words. I'll see what I can do though.

After high school I joined the Air Force for six years. Think of your typical military guy partying it up, working for the man, getting stationed in Germany, and all that. It had it's ups and downs, and if I had to do it again I would. But I would pick a different job. When I got out, I was a bit on the heavy side.

So I go off to college and realize that the civilian world is nothing like the military. You have to talk to folks differently. I take a ton of communications courses to help with that, but even so and to this day, there are points where I don't communicate as effectively as I should.

College life was the usual party, friends, classes thing. One of my friends got me motivated to start eating healthy and working out, and I've been big into fitness and outdoor activities ever since. When I graduated, I got a job in Little Rock. 5 months after being hired, they had a massive lay off with me being one of them. I had to move out of my condo and into my parents place. I landed a contract job to tide me over until I found my current job. My job is alright, but I feel under valued and under worked. I haven't had serious work in over a year now, and damn if it wouldn't be nice to have some.

A little bit over a year ago I also realized I did indeed have anger issues. I sought therapy for it, and am doing much better these days. Also, about three months ago I was diagnosed with low testosterone. After waiting for 1.5 months for an MRI to make sure my pituitary gland was okay, I finally got started on testosterone supplements. So far, so good.

That's a very big gloss over of my life. Feel free to ask about certain segments.

I'm so glad I caught this in time. What a wonderful contest and thanks for posting. I've loved reading everyone's stories, it's contests like these that really make us feel connected to other people. Thank you <3

My story: I'm a 24 year old Irish girl. I've got one sister who is 15 months younger than I am. We're very different but we get on wonderfully and I'm so lucky to have her.

I had a pretty great childhood really, although I think most of that is due to the fact that I find it very difficult to really care what others think of me. I was a little precocious as a child. I've always been curious and I was forever wanting to do things that I was too young to do (e.g. lighting a fire aged 3) and never understanding why. When I went to school aged 4, I started reading a lot. The teacher was concerned for some reason, since I'd finish my work very quickly so that I could go and read for a little bit. After that, I was moved up a class which is almost never done in Irish schools so that I was always one of the youngest in the class. I had people that I considered friends but they were always superficial friendships and one in particular bullied me for years. Due to my apparent inability to care, it didn't really bother me very much. I always told Mammy what had happened and sometimes I told the teacher although nothing was ever really done.

By this time we were living in the house that Mammy still lives in (my parents are still together but my dad is living in France...it's complicated). It's a perfect place to grow up. My grandfather gave my father some land on which to build a house, which is exactly what he did, himself. From the ground up, he built this house as and when he could afford to. This meant that our house was in a constant state of construction for most of my childhood. The plot of land itself was connected to where my grandfather lived and also where two of my uncles and their families lived. It was a big open green space with a river at the bottom, idyllic. The town was also super close (as in, walk out of the driveway and you're there, close) so it was a perfect location. As I grew up, I started to like the town less and less but it's so easy to forget it's there when you're in the sun, looking at the river.

My grandfather died when I was 12. He'd always been the perfect grandfather and some of my fondest childhood memories were of us doing a crossword in his rocking chair, or the amazing pastries he used to bake for his grandchildren. I missed him a lot. I went to high school and I did pretty average. I was so used to never having to work for good grades that it never occurred to me that I'd have to start now. The first three or so years were pretty lonely. I had friends but I'd never really felt connected to them. After third year though, we all began to grow much closer and I finally knew what it was to have real friends. I'd known my now best friend for years (I had a massive crush on him for most of them!) but we only got really really close when he came out as being gay. I was 16 and I'm very lucky he's in my life.

After high school, I didn't really get the grades I needed to do what I wanted so I settled for a course I didn't really want to do. Again, I didn't try so I failed my first year. I stayed at home that first year but moved out the second to repeat it. I finally passed but I dropped out to pursue a psychology course. I did a one year certificate which got me into university in Scotland, to study Psychology. I loved it, very much. I'm just about to graduate this week and I couldn't be more proud of myself. Living over here was difficult. I'd never even visited the place, much less known anyone over here. I was really starting from scratch. I found a job that barely covered rent and bills but it did. I passed first year with great grades and then I spent the summer with my dad in France. We get on each other's nerves a lot but it was still an amazing experience.

In first year, I'd met a woman I really liked and we got on wonderfully. She reminded me a lot of Mammy in temperament and she was just the nicest person. We'd known each other a little less than a year when the night before her 21st birthday, she had an epileptic fit and died. Her funeral was the worst day of my life. I still miss our gossiping sessions and the way she laughed.

The next two years were pretty unremarkable except for the fact that I met my current boyfriend. He was starting first year as I started second year and we hit it off right away. We got close very quickly and started seeing each other (as well as each of us seeing other people). He didn't want it to be anything more since we were such good friends and he didn't want to lose that. I soon made him see the error of his ways haha and after a little bit of drama, he finally accepted that we work really well together. We're about to celebrate our second anniversary as a proper, official, exclusive couple haha. We're also about to move in together, which I'll get to now.

I just finished university, with an honours degree in Psychology. My graduation ceremony is this week and I'm so excited. Last week I accepted a job offer as an information analyst with the NHS (the socialised healthcare provider in the UK). It's in a different city which means I'll have to move but I'm so excited. I feel like my life is finally starting. I'll finally have money to go on holiday, treat myself, or even to visit home. As I'll be moving to a different city, SO hopes to come with me and I hope he does too. I don't know what will happen years from now, but I feel like I'm making a good start.

I am a 31 year old mom of 3. I had big dreams when I was a kid. I was going to go to medical school. I decided the easiest way to get there would be to enlist in the military. The paperwork was all done, I had a plan. But at 18, I was hit by a drunk driver. He was in a truck, I was on a bicycle.

I suffered a lot of injuries and it was feared I would not walk again, but after quite a bit of physical therapy and trying very hard to prove people wrong, I was down to just needing a cane. Now, I still need the cane in winter or when I push too hard, even nearly 14 years later, but it is better than anyone had ever hoped or expected.

My dreams, of course, were shattered and reglued and put on a shelf. I found another path that would let me continue my love of medicine without having to go through the rigors of medical school that would have been difficult at best with my physical limitations. I work in medical records now.

My first marriage was a struggle, in a way, although I didn't see it that way at the time. The man I married soon morphed into a man I did not recognize and became both physically and emotionally abusive. I lost site of who I was for a very long time.

When I was pregnant with our second child, he left me because his girlfriend was pregnant as well. He is now married to her. A few months after my daughter was born, he picked up the kids for the weekend, and refused to return them. He filed for divorce and tried to get full custody so he didn't have to pay child support. He failed on both counts, although he never did follow through and pay the support the court said he was to pay.

After a year a couple of years, he convinced my then 3 year old daughter to say that she did not want to see me and did not want to come to my house and he refused to force her to do something she did not want to do.

Just very recently, after 4 years of fighting, I have won back my right to joint custody of my children, and now have them with me most weekdays and it has been a struggle to acclimate them to a different way of doing things. But it is worth it to me.

I now have another child from a second marriage, in which I found a man who has loved me for who I am and allowed me to be the woman I was supposed to be. He loves my kids as if they were his own. But our own child, my youngest is 2 and a half and autistic and there are challenges in that as well.

Nothing in life has ever been easy for me. But I have refused to give up and have worked toward every goal to the best of my ability. I was homeless this time last year with a toddler. But through hard work and perseverance and perhaps a bit of prayer, we are getting back on our feet. We struggle at times, but in the end it will all be worth it.

Hi! It is very kind of you to ask people to tell their stories. I don't think people are asked that question very often, if at all. Thanks for doing this type of contest and for sharing your story too. :)
That said, here's my life so far.

I was born (in 1975) and raised in Houston, TX. I was debilitatingly shy as a child. I was bullied and a lot of teachers seemed to not like me. I didn't understand why or why they didn't do anything to stop the bullies. I guess I was too quiet and awkward and they didn't know what to do with me maybe? Maybe there isn't an answer and they were just stupid people. That's more likely.
I made it my personal goal to overcome it on my own and I improved slowly, year by year. By the time I graduated high school, I had overcome it almost completely. I was never into sports and spent most of my time alone, drawing and painting. My dream was to become a great artist.

I suffer from what most artists suffer from which is fear that I'm not good enough. I chickened out of going to art school or majoring in art and chose Business/Entrepreneurship instead. That wasn't a horrible decision since I learned a lot of business skills necessary for being a freelance artist. I told myself I would minor in art and when that didn't pan out, I told myself I'd do it after getting my business degree. Well, by the time I was through with my BA degree, I was fed up with school. So I got a job and learned graphic design on my own. It took longer than I would have liked, but at least I learned it! :)

When I was 23 years old, I met my soulmate, Joe. I never really believed in that stuff until it happened to me. We fell head over heels instantly. He had been diagnosed with Crohns disease at age 13 and explained to me that he often had health issues. For those who may not know, Crohn's disease is treatable, but flare-ups can be pretty awful. There were a lot of times when we had to cancel plans or plan not to leave the house for a few days. I didn't care, we just worked around it.

Skipping ahead (this is already longer than I meant it to be), we both got jobs in Austin and moved here during the dot com boom. There was a new test available to determine if Joe had Ulcerative Colitis instead of Crohns since they have very similar symptoms. The test showed he had Colitis which was great news because there was a fairly new operation available to fix it. After he had the surgery and recovered, he could eat whatever he wanted and it was glorious! We took a giant road trip from Austin to Wyoming then to Seattle and down the coast to LA. We drove to Las Vegas and got married by an Elvis impersonator before coming home. :) The moral of that story is, if you can survive a long road trip together, then you can probably survive marriage. ;-)

During the next several years we had normal relationship issues, but overall, it was great fun! Unfortunately, his bile duct became blocked and he required surgery to fix it. That failed and he required a second surgery. Somehow his pancreas became inflamed so badly that all of his organs started to fail. We thought he might die, but luckily the renal dialysis helped to reverse things. He spent months in rehab and managed to recover about 80%. Sadly, after a few months, we found out he cholangiocarcinoma (cancer of your bile duct). That was in December of 2006. We decided to take a vacation to Vegas before his chemo treatments were to begin. Our close friend was able to join us and we had a blast!

After his first round of chemo treatments, the cancer spread to his liver and lungs. It's a nasty form of cancer and very aggressive. After doing everything we could, our doctor gently told us about palliative care and hospice. I still didn't know he was going to die from this. I was definitely in denial. I think he was too, but only to a certain point. I'm pretty sure he knew deep down that he was going to die. He fought as hard as he could though. He was like a child refusing to go to bed even though he's falling asleep. He got to a point where we didn't have any more options and he was obviously suffering. I had to give him permission to let go. That was the most difficult thing I've ever had to do.

He passed away in March 2007 at the age of 33. Only 3 months after being diagnosed. He was at home when he died which was comforting. Death changes so much. A lot of my friends were around while he was declining, but then disappeared after he passed away. Same with my in-laws, but that was okay because they blamed me for his diminishing health. I leaned on my parents who were and are wonderful!

Since then, I've made new friends, met my awesome boyfriend and have done things that I have always wanted to do! I try to find silver linings and that's one of them. I've spent so much of my life taking care of someone else that I put off doing the things I wanted to do. I've since travelled throughout the US and to Japan (Me and Mt. Fuji, just hanging out;). I tried acting and improv. I wasn't very good, but I'm so happy I tried it out. I'm currently focusing on drawing and painting again! Life is good. :)

Writing this has been very cathartic. I hope this was slightly interesting and maybe even helpful. :) Anyway, thanks again for asking!

When I was younger for three weeks we had a troupe of ballerinas came to stay, my parents rented out rooms to my mothers drama friends and they wanted to stay with us so they did. It was a childs dream to have these mad elf like swans stretching about the house and coming and going at all hours. Thats kind of how I grew up we where pretty much dirt poor because my mum insisted my sister and I get the education she had been denied, so dad worked away from home and my mum worked every hour under the sun. It was fun really with the comings and goings of weird arty theater types all the time teaching me fun little skills like juggling and acting. I never realised it wasn't a normal upbringing until much later, when my friend joked I was like a female version of Hey Arnold.

Despite my parents best efforts, I was not built for school. I was always ahead of the curriculum so was always bored. I had perfect grades but I'm not going to lie I was a tear away. I skived more than I was in once I hit high school, I changed a number of times because they kept hoping one would stick. Then I started to skive and go to see bands, I ended up working for a website interviewing and reviewing bands even though I was still in high school. Which in a round about way led to me booking gigs and working with venues a lot. I was about 18 when I realized I could actually see myself doing that as an actual job. So now I'm at uni doing an Business and Events Management degree. And I'm doing well at it. I mean seriously well. Despite the fact I am not academic or even really prepared for it. I somehow managed to find something I love and people take me seriously. I think my family always assumed I was just this lost little trouble maker who would never make anything of herself but really everything I did has made my life better. If I'd had stayed at one school everyday bored out of my mind I'd have frankly given up. Instead I'm almost top in my year and heading towards a high paid exciting career with loads of options. I'm actually really happy with the person I've become, I'm reliable and confident and I've got so much calmer. If I hadn't been a little ragamuffin I wouldn't be able to out drink and out last my class mates, I wouldn't be as knowledgeable and I wouldn't be doing what I love.

Where I'm going long term, I've set myself the goal of wanting to own my own property ten years after graduation, even if its a hovel I won't consider myself successful until I own a property. Some day I'd like to get married but never kids, they terrify me. Even as a child I knew I didn't want them, I'd rather have a puppy. I want to travel, explore and see all the places I've read about. I've been pretty happy most of my life and thats all I want really is to carry on being happy.

Alright... Obviously I can't enter my own contest, but I figured I would allow myself to be completely real and open with all of you guys and share my full story of who I am, where I have been, where I am, and where I am going.

So here goes...

Who am I? This is the common question asked in the teenage years by angsty kids who begin to wonder what their purpose in this world is. It is the question asked by adults when something happens and they just aren't sure anymore. It is the question asked by all people at some point in their lives as they reflect on who they are and what they have become. For me, it is the question I asked a long time ago as I was staring at the edge of a blade that had no intention to protect me.

I was born December 28, 1990 in Dallas, TX to fantastic parents. My mom had trouble with pregnancy in the past and had almost given up hope that she would ever have a child. But alas on that glorious evening I came into existence.

I don't remember much from when I was a child other than the fact that I was trouble. I distinctly remember time out being my assigned seat in Pre-K. People always blamed my parents for that. People in our church always blamed my parents for my out of control hyper behavior.

When I was about 3 my parents decided they wanted another child. Unfortunately, my mom had to get a hysterectomy because of a tumor. I didn't understand what that meant, but they did tell me that she would never bear children again. My parents were hopeless, but me being the naive and optimistic child i was, I never gave up hope.

One day they came across an adoption agency called Dillon International. They told me that they were looking to adopt a baby girl from China. I got excited because I was finally going to have a baby sister! For three years I prayed. In fact, I had even heard that if you dig a hole deep enough you'll end up in China. So, I started digging holes in the yard. Didn't make it 6 inches.

On November 4, 1997 my parents arrived at the airport with a beautiful baby girl in their arms. I was finally a big brother. Today she is 16, working on getting her license, and freaks me the fuck out when she starts talking about boys. I still see her as the Chinese baby girl that I remember her being when we first got her.

School was hell for me. Every day I dealt with other kids cornering me on the playground and beating me. Everyday I went home in tears because of bullies at school and teachers turning a blind eye to me. Everyday I just wished that I could be normal.

In 6th grade I got into fights. Why? Because I was told to defend myself against the bullies. I tell people that you never poke a caged animal. I was like a bear caught in a trap, and was being poked and taunted by stupid humans who did not know that what they were doing could hurt them. At some point I snapped, got into fights, and got suspended. Teachers blamed my parents saying that I don't receive enough attention at home. My parents blamed the school saying that they don't do jack shit to prevent bullying.

I was diagnosed with ADD when I was in 6th grade. My parents started experimenting with different brain altering drugs to see what worked best at keeping me focused. They all made me miserable. I was in a constant zombie state that did nothing but suppressed me. I hated it. My appetite was nonexistent. I was anorexic. And even worse, I was depressed.

8th grade my grandpa passed away from prostate cancer. The only memory that I remember vividly of him is when he took me fishing one summer. Just me and him at the pond. He stayed in the truck while I caught all the fish. He was a great man. Never said much, but he was amazing. After he passed away I felt it necessary to live up to what his expectations would have been, so I joined FFA. In FFA I was the first to memorize the creed, I showed pigs and cattle, took a course on biotechnology, became a genius in the area of genetics (well for my age), learned how to weld, and.... never fit in. I was the emo kid. I got called all sorts of names like "emo faggot", was told multiple times by some people to go cut myself and die because nobody wants an emo kid. Yeah... It sucks being in a place where you know you don't belong.

When I got into high school I had already decided that I was an atheist. How could there be a god when such evil exists in the world? How could there be a god if I'm living in hell? It was also around this time that I became a compulsive liar and made up all sorts of shit to make myself appear cool. I would tell people that I was a 14 year old alcoholic, or that I smoke more weed than anyone else in the school... I've never touched weed in my life, and I'm more of an alcoholic now than I was back then, and I am not even an alcoholic now.

No one saw through my masks except two people. The first person I'm going to call Nate. Nate is probably one of the only friends from high school whom I still keep in touch with. Him and his wife have always been there for me throughout high school (his wife actually hated me in school... now she trusts me with her life). He saw through my masks and encouraged me to be myself and to let people see who I really am.

The other person who saw through my masks was an asshole named Brian. Brian was the kind of person who probably got a boner from making people miserable. By the time we were both juniors he already had two kids from the same girl. One day in fifth hour, the last class of the day, that asshole decided that he was going to convince our side of the classroom to gang up on me and talk all sorts of shit. I tuned it all out the best I could, but it was all that I could do. I drove home that day with one thing on my mind - suicide. I decided that I was going to end my life that night and show the world what happens when you poke a caged, but hopeless animal.

I put the blade to my throat, but I just couldn't do it. I heard a voice in my head saying that it wasn't worth it, that there was more to life than what I was going through, and that there were people who cared for me. I fell apart. Threw the knife aside and began to cry.

I was still an atheist. I still hated everybody, but the next day the asshole who caused me so much hell dropped out of school. Turns out he was failing so miserably that there was no way he could graduate. Life was beginning to look a little bit brighter.

I still went to church during the time I was an atheist.. but it was really because if I didn't go then my parents would take my laptop, aka my runescape machine, away. That shit don't fly. After my "bad day" I decided I might try God again. I went to a concert with my friend, Megan, who my parents spent more time talking about Jesus to than me. That was pretty cool. Haven't talked to her in years.

But what really got me considering God again was after a week of high school camp. I met some really awesome folks there, heard powerful messages, went home, and went right back to my heathen ways. Sound familiar? That's the story of most high schoolers who go to church camp. It didn't end there, though. I learned that I was signed up to go to a youth conference in Missouri that summer. I had no clue. I go to this conference against my will, and my world is shaken.

It is at this conference where I learned that CHILDREN are bought and sold as slaves to be drugged, beaten, raped, and trafficked all because of some sick market. It is at this conference where I learned that suicide is the #3 killer of teenagers today. It is at this conference where I decided I was a Christian, and that I wanted to work with youth.

Now let's go to my senior year of high school. I start the school year out totally on fire. I only go to school for two hours each day, then I go to tech and play with computers the rest of the day. I meet some cool people there. Its all fun and dandy. Life is good.

December 3, 2008. There is a car accident. Three kids decided it would be cool to get shitfaced off all sorts of drugs and alcohol and then go for a joy ride. The driver is the only one who survived and faces two accounts of manslaughter. One of the victims was a bully from my past. This is what tore me up the most. The fact that a little shithead that caused me so much hell in school had just been killed in a car accident. I wasn't angry at him. I was upset that he was gone. That's when I learned that I no longer have any bitterness toward anybody.

Around the time of that accident I met a girl. Her name is Alex. We dated for like a week. Almost had sex. Broke up. Still hung out like... All the time.

A few months later I meet a girl named Teresa. We dated for a couple of months, had sex a few times, went to prom. I dumped her ass she started flipping her shit over me not responding to a text while I was driving. But that was just the last straw to several things that accumulated over a period of two months:

She was crazy. She had two cell phones. One to talk to me normally. The other pretending to be someone else that would try to seduce me to make sure I wouldn't cheat on her.

Her mom was crazy. I was honestly terrified of her mom. She had a chain smoker voice, and once started yelling at me because I got her the wrong cigarettes.

She was... very very dumb. She would often play the "I think I'm pregnant" card where she would explain why by saying "I woke up this morning with a sore throat."

She was blatantly offensive to people with down's syndrome.

I dropped her like a bad habit. I saw her picture on the cover of a jailbirds catalog. She got arrested for possession of marijuana.

August 2009 I started school at a small bible college. March 2010 I go on a missions trip to Haiti. My world was changed forever. I decide to do youth ministry. December 2010 my grandma passes away in surgery. I go into a depression. May 2012 I do an internship in middle of nowhere Kansas. Best experience of my life. February of this year I lose one of my closest friends. He was in a car accident. I miss him very much. I still have dreams where he is still alive and we are all hanging out and he is singing his irish drinking songs completely off key, but then we all realize that he is no longer with us, and I wake up sad.

So, where am I going? I don't know where I'm going. In fact, I really don't know how I got to where I am today. If you asked the angsty atheist 17 year old me what I would be doing in 5 years I would probably say "rotting 6 feet under" or something like that. All that I know is that I am now a Christian who wants to do youth ministry, who genuinely cares about all people, and who loves each and every one of you. We may disagree with some things, but I still love each and every one of you.

Same here. I am honestly surprised by the number of people opening themselves up like that and making themselves vulnerable. I think I may post my full story, rather than the abbreviated one I posted per request earlier.

I've been meaning to do this... So here it is. I'll try and keep it brief :)

I'm 20. I'm English. I grew up in a little village not far from Cambridge with my Mum, and then my Stepdad, and then my little sister. She's amazing, and 9 years younger than me. It was a good childhood, a bit out of the ordinary compared to all my friends whose parents were married, but I loved it.

Then I went off to secondary school, relatively uneventful in the scheme of things... Not many friends, very bookish, did lots of Drama outside of school which I loved. Then Sixth Form, I did Drama, Music, and German. I loved the subjects, but my Bipolar reared it's head and I struggled a lot. Self harm, anxiety, depression... But I got through it all and I got into University! I was in a relationship at this point, with another woman, quite a bit older than me, but I was happy with her. My family weren't. We fell out for over a year, and then I was dumped over the phone and haven't seen her since. I went through a lot in my first two years at uni, Bipolar, medication, fights, a drinking problem, self harm, and who knows what else.

But I came back and started my second year again - and although right at this moment I am struggling with things, overall my life improved. I have a lovely boyfriend who helps me to no end, I have therapy for my anxiety. I'm President of my Drama Society, I know what career I want, and I have one year left at uni with my amazing friends.
Right now, I'm feeling a bit shit. I have a hole to get out of, financially. But compared to how I was last year, and how bad I've been before... I know I'll get through it.

And that's a bit of my story I guess.... Have a great time reading these :) Good contest. It was nice to share a bit and get to know some people

ok i guess it starts with my mother. she was dating a guy, lets call him A. her best friend, and smoking buddy, C, and her were hanging out one day, got super high, fucked, the condom broke....

A and my mom got married, 1 month-ish before i was born.

they got a divorce when i was about 2, and thats when we moved to california. C wanted to be in my life, but he saw that i was wanting to be more involved with A, so he backed off.

when i was 5 or 6, was the first time i was molested, by a girl who said she was my best friend.... she did it multiple times, but me not having many friends, thought it was what normal friends do, so i allowed her to.

nobody told me C wanted to be in my life, and when my parents got divorced, i felt quite abandoned.... all my life. id go around asking people if they were my daddy, or if they would be.

i was OVERJOYED when my mom got remarried when i was 5 or 6. like, STOKED... until he quit smoking weed, and became a raging asshole. i took alot of the shit they threw my way...

we moved into a new apartment complex, and thats when i met another friend, who did the same to me as my other "friend" did... again i thought nothing of it, because all the rest of my girl friends (ive always been better off with guy friends...) had done the same.

When i was 7 my mom got pregnant, and we moved back up to washington, for a good 3 months, where i changed schools 2 times, for being bullied, but i also made my first ever connection with a women, who owned the apartment building my mother managed... she was such a sweetheart, and would often take me out of school early, and drive me around tacoma. she was amasing. a month or 2 before my mom gave birth, we moved back to cali.

not much happened, except for it was the first year i actually made friends... it was nice. these friends didnt take advantage, and actually for a while i was "popular".... until 4th grade, i got involved with the stoner prodogies, and i was regected by all the popular girls, as id rather hang out with these punk, goth boys... my little sister was adorable, but i was extremely jelous of all the attention she got, and felt quite neglected.

those boys i met.. i found my first "love" in that group. Darian. we "dated" on and off for about 2 years.. even though he had "cheated" on me... with my best friend. that was when i started getting in trouble, acting out for attention. i graffitied in the girls bathroom, i punched people, id ditch class..... you know, "bad kid" stuff....

6th grade i got in trouble with the school for cutting. they saw my wrists, and called my parents. BOY WAS I FUCKED. they started me with a therapist. i loved him, he was amasing... i miss him. 6th grade was the first time i attempted suicide... but i took the wrong bottle of pills.

7th grade i changed schools, trying to get out of the situations i was in, unknowing that i LIVED in the situation that was causing me all the anxiety. when the year started, i got introuble, because i made friends, who agian did what most of my girl friends before had done... and our school gave you laptops, so when id spend the night, theyd put porn on.... and of course, i was interested in what it was... got a bit "addicted", as my parents said. i was suspended.

later in the year, i got one of those wonderful viruses that opens up porn, on a loaner computer, and i went to my step dad, TELLING HIM BEFORE HAND what happened, then i went to the IT guy TELLING HIM WHAT HAPPENED....... and i STILL GOT FUCKING SUSPENDED, on valentines day. the rest of the year was uneventful.

8th grade, i had my first kiss. it was the first year i didnt get like superly in trouble.. of course my narcassistic parents found stuff to yell at me about, but other than that it was ok...

freshman year is where i started fuckign up. i got mouth raped behind the school in the first week, my first make out.got mouth raped by a diff guy, i dated a guy named kyler, who dumped me for being to childish... rebounded on halloween, and that guy was the first guy i let under my shirt.

in october, i fell for a guy named Damian. him and his friend Will (remember that name, hes important later...), smoked weed, and we bought weed cookies. that was the first time i got into weed. it was a nice escape, and plus, it made me seem cool... i had a FAT crush on will, and of course he had a BEAUTIFUL girlfreind of 2 years... who was fuckign crazy.... so i was dating Damian...

he was the first guy i let in my pants. we were completly convinced we were going to be together forever... but then i started having problems, getting more into the party scene.. and my parents. UGH. theyre fucking crazy, so i needed an escape.

when we moved, i had a FAT panic attack, and instead of talking to Damian, he sent me to will... saying that (damain) couldnt handle all my problems, will could... so i started talking to him, and smoking weed more. he had recently dumped his GF, because he wasnt poppin with the weed thing.

i got an ipod touch, thanks to C, and.. i got dumped. the DAY i got it... so i talked to Will... till 3 am. about everything... he was the one who got me to stop cutting... and i loved him for that.

we became FWB, but we slowly fell for eachother. every morning i came to school just BAKED, id walk up to him and hold him ALL morning, until class... which hed walk me to. we would talk ALL the time, like staying up WAY to late, adn then he said he would kiss me, to get it out of my system... i think it was just being nice.. but i was STOKED! He asked me out 3-19-13.. and i was OVERJOYED. it was perfect.

spring break i tried meth, and i went to see C, who still smokes weed... and he ratted me out to my parents... and i moved out, thanks to my therapist, and my grandma... they knew that house wasnt safe, or good for me. Will wanted me OUT of that house.. he knew how much pain it caused me, and how depressed and full of anxiety i was because of the Emotional Abuse, and Neglect (as the state of California deems what they do.)

we dated, we had fun, i had problems, id come to him... we got along amasingly... but.... he was 17, and a senior. i was 14 and a freshman. he was graduating, and i was scared. i was going through so much, and unfortunatly thought of him as a savior.

when he dumped me on fathers day, i was broken. i loved him... and he didnt love me back. it was partially because his ex had fucked him up in relationships, and i REALLY wanted to show him what a real gf was like... but he graduated, and lived far away. he said he still liked me, but hed rather be single.

i went to summer camp, and was overjoyed to put my past behind me. im done with drugs, im done with drinking.. im done looking for God on earth. im throwing myself into my music, and my art... and staying single until i learn how to love myself.

Anyway, I grew up in a pretty religious household, same church from about the time I was 5 until I was 13. It was pretty intense I wound up being "saved" and baptized by the same pastor at that same church twice because they were all hellfire and brimstone, so I thought I was going to hell all the time. I had very little interaction with outside influences and I was a horrible high and mighty little girl. It was quite an experience...us leaving when I was 13 was because they found out the pastor was a sex addict and he had an affair with the secretary (who was also married). Only my family and 2 other families left, and everyone else I grew up pretty much had nothing to do with us. Which began my trust issues.

When I was 16 my parents found another church but I was already over being religious and Christians. I found them highly hypocritical and I had enough. I caused a bit of trouble...we were only there a short time but long enough for me to know that I was done with organized religion. The same we were attending this church, I was also attending another Church's youth group with a friend. I was 16 armed with biblical knowledge and dangerous. My arguments with the youth leader were long and provided much insight into the type of person he was. Also completely backed up my thinking that religious people were all ridiculous and to be avoided at all costs.

When I was done with that, I started getting into the local music scene a bit. I went to local shows almost every night. I met some good friends, that I still have. I also experienced love at first sight. It's not at all how they make it look in movies. It really was a eyes meet across the room and instant, I really need to get to know that person feeling. I was only 18 and he was 25 so we didn't talk that night because he was on the overage side and then he went to another show later.

Being the awesome creepy internet person I am, I hunted him down through our friends and the website we were both mutual members of. Now remember that little part of being really sheltered before? Yeah...my parents put me in a hotel for their anniversary...I had said guy meet me at my hotel room. I had read a super awesome Cosmo article that said reading palms was sexy and a great way to start things. So I bought a palm reading book and tried it. Yeah it failed, but hey whatevs.

We continued our date by going to a show at a local venue called Minder Binders. It went very well, him, me and 2 of our mutual friends stayed the night in our hotel. Our friend drank the $5 bottle of Evian in the room...being the clever girl that I am though, I went to the Circle K that was practically in the parking lot and bought the same one for $2.

I continued dating this guy, things started getting rough at home, I was fighting with my family all the time and it was just really hard, they didn't want to let go and accept that I was an adult, I had a mind of my own and I was perfectly capable of making decisions on my own for myself. I moved out in a rage, I lived with a friend for about a month until her bf decided he couldn't manage to hide his abusive nature. So she let me know he was kicking me out (I was only there like 1 night a week anyway) so I took all my stuff and moved in with my bf.

About a month after that we moved into our own apartment, I sold my truck to get the money to be able to move in. It was a really cool apartment in the beginning. Then really strange things started happening...I always felt like someone was in the apartment with me and it would terrify me to the point that I would go into the laundry room on the balcony and lock myself in (for some reason the laundry room had a deadbolt that locked from the inside).

My BF worked right up the street so he was always coming home to see if anyone was there, there never was. I felt like I was going crazy. Then on the showerwall in the guest bathroom we discovered spots on the wall that repelled water and were always black. We would scrub them and tried everything to keep them clean to no avail, it was really creepy because they were not in a place where you would generally touch and they were spaced as if hands had been there. We never were able to figure out if anything happened in that apartment or not but when moved as soon as our lease was up.

We moved into a smaller but much nicer apartment in a nicer area. It was a great apartment complex, I loved the pool. Money started getting tighter and we started fighting more and more. There was a glorious amount of fighting. I moved in and out quite a few times. Things progressively got worse. Then he proposed, in a very un romantic manner that consisted of a ring box being thrown at me. Needless to say I didn't tell anyone about that proposal. We had a fight about that, I gave back the ring, he tried again, in a cute way, I accepted. We got married on the same date that we had went on our first date but 4 years later. We thought it would fix everything.

Being married made me get really weird. I felt all kinds of pressure about how things should be and how we were failing and there was nothing I could do. It was a mess and didn't fix any of the problems that we thought it would fix. So we bought a house (ok technically a trailer but whatever), this did not seem to improve anything, except the fact that I now got to have dogs. I wound up getting a job close to home and I met this guy.

Said guy was really really nice to me, we started hanging out. I didn't realize what was going on for awhile but apparently I was dating this guy...nothing physical happened, I was just really happy that someone was being nice to me. So that led to us being separated. I once again moved home with my parents.

I attempted to do beauty school and started my online dating profiles. I was also diagnosed that year as bi-polar and was hospitalized twice for kidney stones. I got on medication for my bi-polar and things started evening out for me a bit. I wound up being super really depressed and I was in a lot of pain from the kidney stones and other problems the caused. I dropped out of beauty school because I couldn't physically do it and it just wasn't what I thought it would be.

During this time in order to get myself out of bed at least one time a day I started a photo a day project (it's on flickr but my work blocks it and that's where I currently am...will try to remember to link later). It worked, it was a very successful project and I have some pretty awesome pictures from a pretty hard time in my life, I also journaled on most of the pictures, it's good to see how far I've come.

That was the year that we decided to get divorced. Funnily our divorce wound up being finalized in the same month that we got married. We're really good friends now and I'm actually on a path to better mental health.

I have a job that I actually really like and things are looking up for the most part.

So, my story, eh? It might be troubling and/or triggering for some, just so you know...

So, I was born in 1990, in San Jose, California. My mother was newly 18, and dropped out of high school. My dad was a year younger and a skin head punk ass, who didn't see me until I was 4. My mom and I lived with my grandparents. My dad decided to turn up, so we left to a little shithole town of Colusa. I had a little brother a year later whom I resented very much for getting my dad's attention. I did some pretty mean things to that kid. As a result, I got my ass whooped a lot. I called CPS and nearly got my dad arrested. My parents are kind of the scum of the Earth. At some point, we were living in two cars that were covered by a tarp and eating donated dog food...

So, when I was 8, I went to live with my grandparents because, well, I don't really know. I'm uncertain if I was unwanted or what. So, I lived with my grandparents for a few years, and I got a baby corn snake, I named him Scaley, and I liked to watch him eat little micies.... Yeah... I love my grandparents dearly. They are the kindest, most full hearted people I know.

I believe I was 12 when I went to live with my parents again. I was still harsh to my brother, I hardly knew the kid, really. Within a year, my grandparents moved to Colorado, and we all followed. I stayed with my parents and brother for all of middle school, I had the biggest crush on this boy...

My parents moved to a different part of town during the Summer before high school. I was angry that I'd be going to a different school, so I went and lived with my grandparents, again. My sanctuary. (I don't tell them that often enough.) High school was spent out in the boonies.

I started with the whole self mutilation thing. I was depressed, diagnosed bipolar, fed dozens of antipsychotics and what have you. The Summer before my junior year, I made a pretty serious attempt to take my life. I overdosed on all of my newly filled prescriptions, about 70~ pills, on June 23rd, it was a Friday, and my grandparents had gone to an open stage concert. I was home alone. This is the most defining night of my life, I believe. I started hallucinating and puking, I got scared and called my neighbor, who called another neighbor, the police and my grandparents. I was combative against the EMTs. I was flown by helicopter to the hospital. I spent several weeks in a Behavioural Clinic. Realised that the other kids I was stuck with, were idiot delinquents and that I was so much brighter than I was behaving. I went about my life heavily medicated.

It was the following January that my grampa had a heart attack and required an emergency quadruple bypass. I was so numb, and angry that I was so numb. I wanted to be upset, and cry and feel something. It was that day that I ceased taking ALL of my medications. I learned how to manage my emotions all by myself without any help or counseling. I wasn't even 17, yet.

Shortly after my 17th birthday, I decided I'd had enough of Colorado and spent all my money on a Greyhound ticket to Sacramento, where my cousin lived. I stayed there for nearly a year. During that time, I smoked a lot of weed and was promiscuous.

I came home to a very happy best friend. I missed her most of all. I dated a few idiots when I came home, and then that December, I began talking to that boy that I crushed so hard on in middle school. He took me and my best friend to a rave in January. I haven't left his side since.

Now, I have his daughter and are planning to be married soon. We've been together for nearly 5 years. I am happier than I have ever been. And this is where my story is for right now. I am a stay at home mom to a gorgeous 6 month old girl, I will be 23 years old next month, and I live and share my life with the most spectacular human being in this world.

There's so much more, but I guess those are just the highlights. I got handed a lot of shit, too much shit. But, I'm happy now. Truly happy.

so my life has been one heck of a ride but tell me whos hasn't.so here it is. i dont know exactly if the dad i know is my dad because my mom and him broke up and slept with this other guy that died when i was 4 he was murdered. after he died my mom was at a loss because she loved him she almost overdosed after moving to Arizona and abandoning me with my now father for 3 years of my life. when i was 9 my sister was born and i was forced to grow up because my now dad and his new wife worked alot and i had to practically take care of her. after moving when i was 11 or 12 i never made friends like i had and we didnt keep in touch. now im finnaly starting to fit in and i have a amazing boyfriend. i hope to graduate and go to collage get married and have 4 kids of my own. thanks for listening :3

I was born in Pittsburgh, the second of four children. My dad had cancer when I was 6. I had no idea what that meant, only that he was sick, and my mom says that I would always come into their room at night to make sure he was still there.

My mom worked so much when my dad was sick that I hardly have any memories of her from my childhood. That makes me sad, because she is wonderful. My older sister acted as a second mom, even though she was only 8 at the time. I think this is a lot of the reason that she is immature now as an adult and so bossy. I still love her, but she is the reason for a lot of my poor self-image. I'm working through it.

I started kindergarten when I was 4, after having an IQ test and behavioral analysis. The psychiatrist told my parents I was mentally ready, but not emotionally because I had "a problem with authority". My parents enrolled me early anyway. :)

In high school I used to get bullied by cheerleaders. They didn't like me because I wore black lipstick and punk clothing. They used to pull my hair and push me into lockers. Once someone tripped me in the stairwell. I never told my parents I was being bullied. I always turned the other cheek. I started skipping classes I had with them until I eventually got my schedule changed. I had good friends who got me through it.

My dad survived the cancer and is still alive today, at 62. We moved to the country after he got better, so my mom could work a better job. She's now a retired PA state police dispatcher. She loved her work, but had to take early retirement when my younger sister got cancer. She was 15 at the time of diagnosis, and by her sweet 16 she was bald. This did not dampen her spirit, however. She just bejeweled her head and wore her baldness proudly. After a year of chemo, she was finally in remission. One of her nurses submitted her to Make-a-Wish, and my family (except my dad - parents were on the outs at the time) flew to Tampa to see a U2 concert, and my sister and mom got to meet the band! We also went to Busch Gardens and got skip-in-line passes. It was a great way to celebrate her second chance at life.

I went to a two year tech/art school for multimedia design. I had the talent, but needed the precision and degree to start a career. School did not prepare me for real life. After graduation, I couldn't find a job anywhere. So I started working at a department store. This is where I met my best friend. We were both scheduled to do inventory and were on the bus to downtown Pittsburgh at 5AM. It's not the worst city, but we were still scared, being all of 19. We walked together into work, and have never left each other's side since.

I tried to go back to school and got into a really prestigious university. After two years, my guidance counselor said I ran out of grants, scholarships and loan money. I couldn't afford to go there anymore.

I transferred my credits to another university, and then found out my mom had breast cancer. I transferred within the same university for a campus close to my parents.

After a semester at the new campus, my mom had her tumor removed and fortunately did not require any radiation or chemo. She's still alive and well. My guidance counselor at the new campus told me they were not allowed to take any of my previous credits from the original university - that they only applied to the main campus. WAT.

So I said "fuck it" and finished out with one year at community college. I owe $40K for two Associate Degrees, but have the knowledge of a Master's. This wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't disabled.

I met my husband on MySpace. We both laugh about that now. When I moved back to my parents' house, I was suddenly in the zipcode radius of my husband's search. I took a job at Kinko's, and was at work the first time he messaged me. That night at home we talked for about 4 hours online. Then we talked for about four more on the phone that night. I was laughing so hard I woke my mom up in the middle of the night and she came into my room to make sure everything was alright.

We were married on my 26th birthday. I chose this day because my parents got married on my mom's birthday. My dad proposed to my mom in a cemetery. He was a groundskeeper and she brought him lunch one day and he just couldn't spend another moment without her. It's sweet.

Weeks later, my mom found out she was pregnant with my older sister. Her parents forced my parents to get married within the next month so society wouldn't know she was pregnant. They got married on my mom's birthday because it was the first available date at my grandparents' church. They got married in the church basement. This has always depressed my mom. I felt that if I got married on my birthday to try and start a kind of tradition, she would feel better about it. I think it did help.

My time at Kinko's actually taught me a lot of real world skills. It ended up getting me a great job as an in-house graphic designer for an actual salary. I worked there for 3 years and made wonderful friends. The only reason I left was to further my husband's career. We left Pennsylvania for Florida, to prove to his company that he was dedicated to them. He's now running the company. :)

Last year I had a baby boy, who is wonderful, charming, laid-back and a handsome little devil, if I do say so myself. I know it's hard on my parents to not get to see him a lot. But my relationship with my family is much better with distance between us. I love them all so much, but I am still working through my fibromyalgia, social anxiety and OCD. They don't understand it and don't really know the real me.

My cancer-survivor sister just graduated with a Master's degree, after getting a bachelor's, after getting a GED, after dropping out of high school for chemotherapy. She's getting married in August to a wonderful man.

I love my brother, but I think I love his live-in girlfriend more. She makes him shine. He and I have nothing at all in common. We don't talk much.

My older sister is pregnant with her first child and I am happy for her. She has actually come to me for advice, which is shocking. Maybe things are changing for the better?

My husband and I just bought a house and are in the middle of remodeling. We're interviewing babysitters this week, too. Hopefully we can find someone steady. We have no family or friends here, so we've been away from our son only 3 times in his 14 months. I hate being away from him, but I know we need couple time, too.

Facts about me: I am asexual, an expert at carnival games and the claw machine, I'm a radio voice talent and I have a corgi and two cats. My hobbies include video games, reading, and keeping aquariums. I hope to get into writing more once my son is older and in school. :)

Well I was born February 25 1997 in Kansas city, kansas. I'm the youngest of my family , I have two older half sisters who are 10, and 15 years older than me who I love with all of my heart! My parents divorced when i was 3 years old and my father married my stepmom. My stepmom had two kids, one daughter who is 5 years older than me, and a son who is 1 year older than me, and i loved them with all of my heart. They divorced when i was 12 and i haven't seen them since. Things were pretty tough for a while after that, we had no furniture, no plates or silverware we only had each other and my dog. She took everything :(. One day my dad got a call from an old high school friend visiting from her home in Los angeles, she wanted to get coffee and my dad said sure! They have been in a long distance relationship for 3 years now, I now have a stepsister 1 year younger than me whoo i love with all my heart. I have never felt more love than I have when im with them. We're visiting them for our annual summer vacation in about 24 days :) I'm so happy to see them! Next year dad and i are moving to California so i can finish out my senior year there. After that I'm going to cinema makeup school and my dream is to be a movie makeup artist. I have never been more happy than I am now, love my life :D

My name is Bobby. I was born in a hospital like other babies. Unlike some other babies, I had a condition that caused my skin to have a lack of vitamin D. I don't know muck about vitamins, but basically the problem could be fixed by getting sunlight. my parents put me in a diaper as a baby and let me sleep on a big couch by myself near a giant window. It was glorious.

In kindergarten, I was more literate than the other students. At nap-time, I was allowed to sit near the window and read books. At recess, I liked to chase grasshoppers and such with friends. I was apparently pretty popular, because everyone I know now that was in that class remembers chanting B O BB Y in class. The teacher also had a parakeet. I had a little GF, too. I asked her to marry me. She said maybe.

Grade 1: I was brought into the office one day for some kind of test. They had me salve puzzles and move cubes and compare pictures. "What color is an apple?" they asked. "It depends on what kind you get," I said sheepishly. I was enrolled into the gifted program.

Grade 2: I decided to try swimming. Then I decided to try soccer. Basketball. Bowling. I had a cat. His name was Ceaser (I thought it meant 'Killer' from movies where they yell "Cease them!") and he was skinny and gold. I miss him. I also got a new little GF.

Grade 3: I try little league football. I didn't make any friends and was generally outcast, because it was a different school's program. So that stunk. Another GF. Their families kept moving.

Grade 4: I read more often. I liked legos, bionicles, books, and my gameboy. I remember that the teacher had a reward system called 'gotcha'. If the teacher caught you doing something good, she'd give you a piece of paper. you could turn in the paper on Friday for a raffle-type deal. The prize was mostly candy. One day after school, the teacher left the room to go make sure the students got on the bus. The nerdy kid of the class, Corbin, tapped me on the shoulder.
"Ever wonder why the candy runs out so fast?"
I just blankly stare at him as he grabs the candy bucket off the top shelf and pours most of it into our backpacks. Then we just ran out of the room, trying not to get caught.

Grade 6: Middle school. I was entered into the 4-H and Beta clubs. Another kid my age moved into my neighbourhood. I became a bad kid. For some reason, I stopped reading books and started fooling around in class. Cracking jokes, throwing balls, writing stuff in the bathroom, you name it.

Grade 7: Despite my bad behaviour, I became a library assistant. I also did football that year. Hated it again. In the library, I worked with another guy my age named Spencer. I'm not sure why, but we never talked. Like never. We sat beside each other silently and read books.

Grade 8: The math program at our school was on computers, and the teacher knew nothing about computers. Basically I spent the year playing games online. Free rider two was my favorite. My homeroom teacher had a baby.

Freshman: Going into high school was easy. I got into a computer class and began to develop games on my own, even though the class only covered computer hardware. The people were taller, the halls were wider, and I was at the bottom of the food chain again. I joined the trap shooting team and began to play guitar at my church on Wednesday nights.

Sophmore: Still in honours everything, I've never studied in my life. I join the robotics team and continue computer courses. I fail my first driver's licence test because I ran a red light.

Junior: Hardest year of schooling so far. Honors everything with 2 AP classes. My GPA falls to a 3.4 because I still refuse to study. I begin driving. I hang out with friends more often and make a 26 on the ACT.

Now I'm here, going into senior year with super easy classed to bring up GPA and I plan on redoing the ACT in the fall. My favorite food is tortellini and my favorite color is aquamarine. I like almost every music genre except hardcore death metal and folk. So that's me.

I was born with a cleft, which means i had a big gap in my upper jaw and lip and in the roof of my mouth, this meant that it was hard for me to breath as a baby. Over the last 25 years of my life i have has numerous operations to have it fixed, also to have my nose reconstructed to due multiple operations, some of which didnt work out. So this was a major part of my life, but thankfully, its over now and i am finished with all of that. Its not as big a deal as someone with a life threatening illness or disease or cancer, but it was a big part of my whole life.

I celebrated the completion of my operations with a few friends by traveling all around Europe for 3-4 weeks a few years back, just after the last operation. We travelled through Germany, Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and England. We stopped at many places on the tour and enjoyed some really really memorable times on this holiday, memories that will stay with me forever.

After this tour, working full time at a bar just wasnt cutting it, i needed to feed my travel bug, so, every year, i would work my arse off, save up all my money, and spend it all on a big holiday to the UK, i managed to do this 2 years in a row, i loved every minute of the holidays and even made some really cool friends along the way.

However, two years ago today, i realised that working behind a bar wasnt going to get me anywhere in life, so i started to study a Bachelor of Media, i am still studying today, and not 6 months into the course i applied for a job on the railway. It was a traineeship to learn how to drive coal trains, i didnt think i would get it, but i applied anyway.

Today, after slogging it out pouring beers for the local drunks for 5 years and after numerous operations that i thought would never end i am now in my final year of study and i am enjoying a good career on the railway.

I havent been able to travel anymore due to my work and study, but i am about to embark on the biggest adventure of a lifetime, i have recently bought my own home and i move in within two weeks!

I was born in Ohio on December 31st, 1989, at 1:32 in the afternoon. My father wasn't there. This would come to be a running theme in my life.

I lived with my great grandparents in a beautiful house in the middle of nowhere in northern Ohio. I'm sure these first few years of my life were wonderful, but I can't tell you about them because I don't remember it. I have vague memories of playing with a neighbor, Emily. I've seen photos of her so I know that she's real, but almost every detail of my first seven years was erased by a falling bicycle and the sting of impact. I know my great grandfather often flew us to Tennessee in his Cessna during the summers. I know I loved the water and it was impossible to get me out of a pool. I know these things because my family tells me they are true, but I honestly couldn't verify them for you. It's strange learning about so much of your life from other people.

But truthfully, seven-year-olds lead uneventful lives, and I don't feel as though I've missed much, barring a trip to Disney World.

The summer of 1998, when I was 8 years old, my family finally moved to our favorite vacation spot, Tennessee. My great grandfather's family had owned farmland there for decades, and now it would be ours. We built two houses on it, one for my great grandparents and myself, and one for my mother and father. Incidentally, that was also the summer my father left for good. These were the best years of my life.

In Knoxville, I found a love for martial arts almost immediately thanks to an in-school demonstration. I was instantly hooked. Six days a week, I was there, practicing and getting stronger. My teachers told me I was a natural. In less than 6 months, I was made the youngest member of the Demo Team for my dojo. We performed at graduations, traveled to schools to show other kids what we did, and even represented our dojo on live TV. About two years later, my instructor approached me with an invitation to join a very small group he was putting together. Team Elite, he called it. Our school was mainly Shaolin Kenpo, but he told me we'd be studying Taekwondo instead because we were training for a very specific tournament: the Junior Olympics. We had six weeks to prepare for a tournament in a style to which we'd only just been introduced, and we'd be competing as black belts. Those six weeks were torturous. We trained for hours a day. We fought full contact. We bled and sweat and cried. A few of us quit. It was here I made friendships I thought would last a lifetime. When the tournament finally came, I entered my strongest event: sparring. Five minute continuous rounds, three of them. I was exhausted by the time I fought for the medal positions, but I was confident I would win. I was wrong. Near the end of the third round, I was in the lead. I attempted a high kick, and my opponent decided to fight dirty. She kicked the knee that was supporting my weight and I fell hard. I was disqualified immediately. Unable to fight. I could barely stand, and that knee still hurts under any stress. The judges never called her infraction, and she continued on to second place. I begrudgingly left with fourth. Not long after, I was awarded my black belt in Shaolin Kenpo just before my 13th birthday. I stayed at the school, assisting with instruction on occasion and joining in adult classes, until my mother and her new husband wanted to move. That didn't take long.

We didn't move far, a few hours west to Nashville, but I was heartbroken. I had been pulled away from my friends and my passion. There was no hope of finding a new dojo in Nashville. My mother wouldn't have taken me. But I had no choice in the matter, and went about trying to start a new life there. After a brief semester at a public metro school, I was quickly moved into a private Christian school called Davidson Academy. The education I received was much better, but I hated it. I wasn't religious, and I was forced to wear a skirt. A nightmare. But again, with very little choice, I decided to make the best of it. I had a few close friends, and I loved nearly all my teachers, particularly my Physics teacher, Mr. Cane, and my Chemistry teacher, Mr. Claxton. It was them who awakened in me a true love for the sciences. I spent 4 years at Davidson, from 8th grade on to 11th.

When I was 15, my baby sister was born. Riley. That little girl is amazing. She's 8 now, and I don't get to see her nearly enough. My brother was born a year later. His name is George. He's going to be a lady killer in a few years, just you watch. Back then, though, I was sinking. My mother demanded I do a lot to help raise them. I was expected to help cook, do all the cleaning, tend to the yard, take care of the kids all weekend, and still manage to get all A's in school. Obviously all of these things didn't happen. A suicide attempt and three psychologists later, I failed my first class: AP US History. Only one student passed it. It was clearly the teacher's fault everyone did so poorly, but my mother wouldn't hear it. Everything I owned was taken from me. I was left with a bedroom which contained only a bed, school books, and a lamp. Finally I decided enough was enough. I confronted my mother, and after hours of screaming, she told me "You can either start pulling your weight around here, or you can get the fuck out of my house." I packed my bags and walked out at 11:00pm that night. I stayed until morning with a friend, and my great grandfather flew out in the very same Cessna that took us on vacation when I was young and took me home to Knoxville the next morning. I returned to Farragut High School for my final year, and met the people I would truly be with for the rest of my life. There I met my husband and my very best friend, and through them I've met everyone else I consider dear. Except all you great people here at RAoA. I like to think I'd have met you no matter where I was.

Now, my husband is in the Army and we live on the island of Oahu. I'm 23 and working toward a degree in Physics, and I hope desperately to teach. I want to inspire some other kid to love science, just like my teachers did for me. Other than that, I have absolutely no idea where I'm going, and I'm perfectly fine with that. I'm having a hell of a time here in Hawaii. That's all I care about.

I was born in Louisiana,but never actually lived there, we moved to IL,and I've grown up in pretty much the same area my entire 25 years of life,lol. Discovered video games around the time the Super Nintendo first came out,and haven't stopped playing since xD Somehow became fairly well-known during my senior year of high school,despite my incredible shyness,and am now going to college for foodservice administration. [basically,the business side of a restaurant] Curiosity finally got the better of me and I joined reddit a few days ago,and here I am xD

I was born in Alabama but my family quickly moved us back to their hometown in Kentucky. We lived there until I was maybe 10? I endured a lot there, that's really too graphic to describe. I remember being 6-7 years old and laying in bed wanting to die.

We moved to Ohio first for a little while then here when I live now in Indiana. I've blocked out a lot because my childhood was shit. Up until I was maybe 13 my father was an alcoholic and my mother has anger issues. She would just load our backpacks and we'd hitchhike to and from Kentucky. We lived in abandoned houses and once in a house that was just a frame because the rest burnt down. We stayed in a chicken coop also. I tried suicide multiple times,multiple different ways.

I met my now fiance when I was maybe 14 in middle school band class. We started dating in 2005. By 2007 we had a baby. And shit was hard. I knew if I missed school I wouldn't be able to go back, so I only missed 4 school days. They tried to expel me. We both started working and going to school,and moved out by 2008. And of course started college right after high school. We both earned scholarships.

We just bought our first house in December.For the past 3 years we have been trying for baby number 2 and we had a miscarriage last spring. Based on the time frame, were in the secondary infertility definition.

Right now my mother is addicted to gambling and my father is dying of cancer.

I know someday i'll get to tell about my life and the majority of it will be good, but right now its been really hard.

I lived in Philadelphia until I was 12, a few months after my 12th birthday we moved to a super small town in North Carolina. When we got here everything was going well for a while. One day I was coming home from school and my dad was at my bustop to pick me up. He's never home this early, right then I knew something was up. He explained to me he had cancer, I didn't really understand fully, i mean I knew he was sick but I didn't know how serious it really was. Dad wasn't able to work so my mom picked up a job at a library and consignment shop. About 6 months go by without my dad in work and we get the great news that the cancer's gone, now he's just gotta rest up and he'll be fine in no time. About a month later he's ready to head back to work. When he had cancer I developed my OCD, I always need to be clean, I think think everyday things are dirty, when in reality they aren't. I started cutting and burning a few months after I started seeing a therapist for my OCD, he helped me a lot with everything. It seemed I was getting better so I gradually stopped going to see him until a few weeks ago. A girl I was crushing on turned me down and laughed at me like when I asked her out it was a joke. I went home crying (real manly right?) and cut a little bit, then a few days after a bit more and more and more. My mom found out and sent me back to my therapist as soon as possible. We had a family wedding back in Philly so we packed up and left while I was still feeling bad. I told my mom I was having suicidal thoughts and she got worried, naturally, so she called my therapist back in NC and asked what we should do, he told her to take me to the ER and get evaluated, I went and dealt with an awful awful doctor, he was so rude. He told me I was a serious threat to myself (I personally don't think I was a "Serious" threat to myself) and said he wanted to keep me overnight until they can get me a room. I slept horribly that night, they made me keep my door open and all the lights in the hallway kept me up. Next day at about 5 PM ish they told me they were putting me in a behavorial health facility and get me all fixed up, no more suicidal thoughts, and I learned how to deal with sadness without cutting or burning. I was there for a week, made quite a few good friends who were in similar situations as me, and I really did learn a lot. I learned so many great coping skills like eating a pepper when I feel like cutting, or snapping a rubberband on my wrist when I feel like cutting. As of last Saturday I'm cut/burn free for a month, and feeling awesome.

July 5, 2010. I got a phone call that forever changed my life, my future wedding plans, my daughter's life and tore me apart from my siblings. I hadn't spoken to my brother in over ten years. He is in his mid 40's, I just turned 30 this past April. He was a result of my Daddy's first marriage, I'm a result of my mother's first. I have an older sister who is also in her 40's (another result of my dad's first marriage), and my younger sister is a result of mom and dad. Off track, getting back on course.

My brother called the night of July 4th to tell me that Dad was in the hospital. He was having a heart attack and that they were taking him into surgery, but he couldn't tell me why or what. He's the epitome of a redneck, hill jack with no education. After hanging up the phone I collapsed because I knew. Somewhere deep down I already knew he was dying. A few hours later I got another phone call and because I had just fallen asleep I sent it to voicemail. It was my brother calling to tell me that Daddy had passed away 15 minutes earlier. It was unexpected and it shook me to the core. I had just started a new job so I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to attend the funeral and when I called them they said that I could go, but they couldn't guarantee I would have a job when I returned. Awesome. My now fiance had been laid off for some time and that was the last thing we needed. I called my mom shortly after to tell her the news and she tried calling my sister, but nobody could get in touch with her. In between sobs I had to drive 20 minutes to her house to tell her. It was the most painful thing watching her collapse in her living room.

When I got home I booked a flight to TX and I went. My older sister picked me up at the airport and we immediately went to Daddy's favorite bar. People knew who we were the minute we walked in and in some way I needed to hear the stories of him outside of being my Dad. The next day we went to where Dad lived with my brother and when I saw my brother I wanted to kill him. I have never felt more hurt or anger towards someone. I could tell he was on drugs. He was angry and hateful towards everyone in the room. He even told me that I didn't belong there because I wasn't Dad's natural born child. Daddy adopted me when I was 5. My brother refused to schedule my Dad's funeral because he knew that if he waited long enough I wouldn't be able to be there. And that's exactly what happened. He said that only the naturals deserved to be there for their father's funeral. He said if I wanted to say my goodbye's I'd have to do it in private by myself. It's been almost 3 years and I have never seen my Dad's gravesite except in a picture that my older sister posted on FB. My brother also has never filed my Dad's estate. He lost all his possessions, including things that my Dad had from when we lived in England. He got my little sister hooked on meth and she lost her 2 boys over it. I haven't talked to my brother in 3 years and my little sister in just over a year. I rarely talk to my older sister. So it's just me...harboring guilt and anger that I couldn't do anything. My daughter will likely forget her papaw as she gets older since she was only 2 when he passed. And as for her one cousin she'll probably never see him again.

So that's a small piece of my story. I could go into how jacked up my life has been, but that..that is the one piece of my history I will never forget.

I was born on September 3rd 1997 and my biological father hasn't been in my life even though he only lived 5 minutes away. At the moment I live with my Mom, younger brother who has high functioning autism and Tourettes, and Step dad who I just call Dad him and my mom have been married for almost 5 years. My bio dad has never had interest in me unless it benefited him. When I was 5 I begged my mom to look him up only hearing good stories about him I had a picture of some kind of fairytale, what I got was his new wife telling me that he has a new family now and to never call back I lost my faith in fairy tales that day. I don't think I am like most teenage girls I am more realistic I don't oggle at the boy bands. I love video games and old rock music but I could only hide my damage and broken feelings for so long I eventually broke down and tried to kill myself. It has been a long hard year of repairing my broken walls but with the help of my mom and animals I am getting better. this year I found out I had Graves disease so I had to have a radiation treatment to knock it into hypo thyroid instead of hyper. I am not going to let it get me down anymore though I am focused on fixing my grades and becoming a zoologist and working with endangered sloths. I have always had a special connection with animals because they are always there for you and won't ever abandon you as long as you love them.
At 15 this is my story so far I have an idea of where I am going but you can never be sure where the road is going to take you.

Part of your story reminds me a lot of myself. I've never met my biological father, either. When I was about 7 or 8 I rebelled against my step-dad, and decided that I didn't have to obey him since he wasn't my "real" dad. After a few weeks of that, my parents put a stop to it and forced me to realize that he was all the dad I was going to get. It took me a few more years, but I eventually realized that he was much more of a father than I could have asked for--he is humble and selfless, and truly a great man. Since that realization, I have always considered myself lucky to have him in my life, and rarely even think about the man who help conceive me.

I hope that there is a man in your life who is able to set a similar example. There is no reason why you should spend your life caring about some stranger simply because you share DNA. Save your time, energy, and emotions for the ones who invest in you.

Thanks for that it has taken me a while to realize this but I have just accepted he will be no more then a sperm donor. It still hurts to know that someone has gone out of their way to not want you or ignore you.

I'm turning 40 this june and I use to be a tour driver until a jeep slammed by bus head on and took away my Working career. In short costing me what had become my dream job. I'm on Disability now making a fraction of what I use to. ( I use to make it tips in one week that I get monthly now )

I was born and raised in Mass to a Broken family. My parents were divorced when I was 8 because my father was abusive. I and my sister went with my mother ( who later on I noticed was also abusive only to a somewhat lesser extent ) We lived a poor life on welfare and Section 8, moving from bad place to bad place, never staying in one spot for more then a couple of years.

My mother always favored my sister and her talents ( my sister is an amazing artist. ) I on the other hand excelled at sports. Which neither of my parents seem to care about. My mother was to busy helping my sister and my father was to busy working. Even when I was being looked at for scholarships for collage and even murmurs of possible Olympic caliber talent I was pretty much just told good job and a pat on the back ( It was for amateur wrestling ) However in one of my final matches in an attempt to impress the scouts I blew out my knee ending my Wrestling career. ( seems to be a running theme in my life )

My sister and I just became more and more at odds because I could see her manipulating my mother, though my trying to stop this got me kicked out of the house with a restraining order no less. So at 19 years old homeless and no job I moved with my Father in Virginia to help him with his B&B. However I did not get a long with his wife or her family. That's to long of a story to relate.. just say I left after a year and 2 years later my father was divorced.

I moved to New Hampshire with a friend and started life over.. again. At first it was pretty okay however over time it slowly degraded. It pretty much went down hill rapidly when my friend moved out and asked me if I would be okay with his friend moving in. I said okay, though I should of guessed that the fact I had to help that friend pay off an over due gas bill should of sent of warning bells.

Long story short that friend ended up screwing me over leaving me 3000 in debt. Unable to pay it I lost my apartment and eventually I lost my job as well. Now living in a single room next to a fire station. I choose to move to Pennsylvania to help a Female friend who was having husband troubles. This turns out to be the worst mistake of my life.

So now stuck in the hell hole known as Shamokin Pennsylvania I get caught up with one bad situation after another. From a girl who leads me on just so she can sleep with me and take my virginity ( yes I was ) To finding myself in a bar more and more often. I knew if I did not get away I was doomed.

Reaching out for help I contacted a friend to move with and get my life back together. My friend agreed ( it was another woman friend but it was also platonic ) Not 1 week after living with her one of her real friends needs a place to go because she is leaving her husband. Well guess what that meant for me? I broke at this point.. I was on the edge of suicide..as in standing at the sink with a knife in my hands... the only thing to stop me was I totally broke down and wasn't able to take action.

I ended up in an emergency mental care facility for 2 weeks. At which point I was released having been deemed " Over the crisis " However when released I had nothing. Just the close I owned in a few duffel bags.. and about 150 bucks, no home no nothing. Homeless for the second time in the middle of nowhere I made one last gamble.

Contacting my friend in Mass I asked if he could meet me at the bus station and take me to the Homeless shelter in Taunton Mass. fortunately he agreed. I moved into the homeless shelter and was there for about a week before I landed a job and got a payday. I moved into a 3rd story room in a rooming building I had hoped it was a good sign because I lived at 77 Market Street Apt 7 ( 777 ).

For 5 years I rebuilt my life. From sleeping on a plastic mattress with no sheets or pillows to a fully furnished 1 bedroom apartment I was doing well for once.

Eventually I met my wife online after 1 year I moved to Hawaii to be with her. It was a rocky road to start but 13 years later we are still together. Though that still hasn't changed that a lot of people I have helped whether friends or work have back stabbed me even to today. That and the fact I loss my dream job and now sit in front of a computer all day playing video games as a means to " Get out " of the house.

Still I suppose it could be worse. I have a home and a loving wife who is far far more then I deserve.

My whole story is sad, and I feel uncomfortable with making people feel bad or pity me. So I will begin with this year. I have an SO, who I love very much, and shares a lot of my passions. We come from wildly different backgrounds, but can still understand each other. He brings me so much joy, and is always there for me.

I had to take some time off after graduating high school, to save up for college and for medical reasons. However, I finally get to start college, and I am going to my dream school this September. I am really excited to start!

I will be double majoring in robotics engineering and computer science and my dream job is to work for Google in the robotics and AI department, GoogleX.

I work a retail job, and it pays the bills. I was recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder and PTSD, and am in the process of getting treatment. But I am okay, I survived, and I have a ridiculously better life, one that I couldn't have imagined just 4 short years ago. I am content, and though I still have mood swings, I will be getting better. I can study for my dream job, I enjoy what I will be learning, and I have people who care about, love and support me.

I was born July 21, 1993 (July is my favorite month as well). My favorite place to be was at my neighbors farm, being around horses seems to soothe me. I have no complaints about my childhood, I loved being little. When I got older though things started to suck. My neighbors divorced so I lost my best friend, the horse of course! My parents divorced and I felt like I had to choose who I wanted to be with. I went and stayed at my grandparents. When things went downhill there I moved into my dads parents. Things were great there, until I wanted a pet.. So I moved into my moms so I could own a pet (I wasnt allowed to move into my dads and Ill leave that story out of this..) When I turned 18 I was allowed to move in with my dad, I only recently did though (Feb 13). My grandmother died a little over 2 years now due to cancer, I miss her more than anything. A few months later, her father passed due to cancer. Though I miss her more than anything, I love life now. I own 3 beautiful cats, work at an amusement park (isnt the greatest but I made friends), and work for a horse rehab for retired racehorses. I will complain about life from day to day but who doesnt?! I love what I do, I love who I have become. I have flaws but compaired to my family.. Im amazing hah.

It was a hot hot day in the south on July 13, 1991. I was born in Memphis, TN. My mother a nurse who worked in the hospital I was born, and my father a rice and soybean farmer from rural Arkansas.

I have lived my entire 21 (nearly 22) years in a small rural Arkansas town. Raised on my dad and granddad's farm. I wouldn't trade one memory for anything.

I have an older sister and a younger sister. 24 and 17, respectively. I graduated highschool in 2009 and moved an hour away to a local university. There I begun a major in Biology Pre-Optometry but found my passion for Psych and counseling after an Abnormal Psych class. So I switched my major. This past May I graduated Magna Cum Laude with my Bachelor's in Psychology and will be attending gradschool out of state 4 hours away for my Masters in Mental Health Counseling. I'm pretty excited but a little scared :P

I've always been a shy person. Meeting new people (at least IRL) gives me anxiety, but when I finally make quality friends I'm fucking rad as hell :P I was always a bit of a pushover in highschool but I've finally found a backbone and learned the power of the word NO!

So where am I going? Can't really say...I wouldnt mind seeing myself in the next 10 years settled down with a sexy scottish man raising our beautiful children in the Scottish Highlands...but in all reality I just want a job and a home.

Thanks for this, giggidywarlock, it was very refreshing! Thanks for the contest :D

I'm Franki. 20. Lived in Northwest Ohio all my life. I love Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Disney, reading, and music. I have a rottweiler - he's been my baby since I was ten.

I am the third of six girls from five dads. The only ones with the same dad is my sister Marquita and I. Unfortunately, she died before I was born at fourteen months.

My parents divorced when I was 3, but I was still a daddy's girl. When I six, my mom had her sixth and final daughter. That same year my dad took off with just a phone call.

That was when I began to notice that my mom was physically, mentally, and verbally abusive, as well as neglectful. My older sister took care of us until I was ten.

When I was ten, my dad came back. On Christmas Eve 2005, I was twelve, he took off again. When I was thirteen, my mom had me take care of my sisters like my older sister did.

I cooked, cleaned, disciplined, made sure they got their homework done, got to bed, got up in the morning... Stuff like that. And the girls were down right terrible. Their behavior along with my mom's abuse sent me into depression.

June 2010, my mom got mad at me and gave me a black eye. I took a picture of it. Tash took it to CPS. The next night, we four were taken to Tasha's home. (Tash is my older sister.) I've been living off and on with her since. While my baby sister lives with her dad, the next older lives in a behavior home in NC. The next older lives with us after we got custody of her again in September.

I struggled with depression and anxiety. Back in February, I wanted everything to end. I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with major depression disorder. But after being on the meds for awhile, we noticed my anxiety increased. This signaled bipolar disorder. I am now on a mood stabilizer that seems to be working.

Everyday continues to be a struggle for me, but I continue to be grateful for the life I was given. I honestly would do it all over again. It made me so strong (not to mention, single men, I have mad housewife/mom skills). Anyway, thanks for reading... I liked writing that out. :D

My story... Where to begin. Childhood was rough. Im from a broken home of two very good but very young parents. I married and ditched as soon as I could with the mentality that I can do anything and dare someone get in my way or say I can't. I've made a wonderful career for myself but have very much mellowed: I'm not so cut throat anymore. We've also lost touch with my family and my husband's family. We worry about everyone and feel that they need us. We hope to move closer to them but I fear that it will put strain on our relationship. I'm also terrified to have kids of my own.

My name is Nichole, I'm 24, and I have an eating disorder. I've been bulimic since I was 8. My story isn't really a happy one, my life has been ravaged by this. But just in the last year I've realised just how bad it is, just how much has been taken from me and I've been fighting back. It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but I refuse to give up. Every day I want to quit and just succumb to it, but I won't. Because fuck that. I've lost 16 years of my life to this, I refuse to give up my future, whatever it may hold. I don't know what life will be like after bulimia, it's scary to think about, but anything has to be better than the hell I'm living right now.

As to where I'm going, I honestly don't know. I don't know what I want with my life because the only thing that occupies my thoughts is beating my ED. But, I can see myself ending up in Australia. My best friend is there and I want to be too. I'd be really happy there. I think it'd be really freeing and really good for me. I want a free and happy life most of all, so hopefully that's where I'm headed. :)

My name is William. I've lived in AL, USA all of my life, though I have traveled much further than this. I'm 17, just out of high school. I'm already taking college classes with no real major in mind. Music is really the only thing that interests me, any thing from Bring Me The Horizon, to Eminem, to Rise Against, to Phantom Of The Opera, to Blue October, etc etc.. Anything but country. Although I have no musical talent, I really just want to join a band so I can play music and travel, which I love to do. This pretty much sums me up. I'm also a Pokemon addict if that matters.

WARNING- YOU ASKED FOR MY STORY SO YOU'RE GETTING THE PAST 7 YEARS OF MY LIFE; WITH PICTURES

My life for a long time was split into summer and school. Summer after high school I worked at a Boy Scout camp in Wisconsin as the "Marina Director" which was really just a Fishing Director job. It was an amazing summer and I made so many friends (I went back and visited the next summer). After the summer was over, I packed up and moved from my parents' house in the Twin Cities (Minnesota) to Billings, Montana for college. My freshman year was a little rough and I really struggled to find people to fit in with. I also switched one of my majors, and made some mistakes. I went through a lot of "self discovery", and just finding out who I was (Including a phase of having a mohawk). I then got a call that spring that I wasn't hired back at the Boy Scout camp I worked at (for reasons not told to me), but they said they would hire me back to work in the kitchen as a truck driver. I refused, because I didn't do it for a job- I did it to work with kids (and go fishing). (Side note- the guy they replaced me with ended up molesting some kids and cost the camp a lot in reputation and legal fees when they got sued). I ended up working at a different camp, because I still wanted to work somewhere over the summer.

That summer (2007) I worked at a camp in Minnesota called Camp Friendship, which is for people with special needs. I worked as the Fishing Program manager, and also as a life guard. I was originally lead on that it was more for kids, but I was mistaken. It was the most rewarding summer I've had. I learned a lot about patience, communication, and women. The ratio of girls to boys on staff was about 9 to 1. I made a lot of friends, and had lots of good times (many drunken nights). It even lead to my first "love"... However that summer eventually ended and so did some of the friendships and yes, my relationship with the girlfriend. Back in Montana, I needed a job to help pay for things while in school. I decided to take a job at a group home for troubled youth, and did that full time while taking 17-19 credits (including multiple lab classes). My grades went up, but my social life died out. I took school very seriously, and became really good friends with the other geology majors. I was in Geology Club and even piloted our car to victory in a soapbox derby race! (Photos relevant here). That spring I was excited to return to camp, and was actually in the middle of getting recertified for life guarding when I got a call that they didn't want me back. I couldn't believe it. I had done so well and drastically improved their program. So I set out to find a new camp to call home.

That May (2008) I was on my way to a fishing trip in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota when I got a call that I got a job as the Fishing Director at a Boy Scout camp in Minnesota! I was so excited. It ended up being the greatest summer I have ever had in my life. (I'll put an album at the end of my story here). I ended up in a cramped cabin with 4 other guys and it was so much fun. We joked, we played games, we bonded... it was what I always wanted in friends. The best part was the camp was on an amazing lake, and the fishing was amazing. That entire summer will remain until this day as the greatest summer and greatest experience of my life.

The following year at school brought on a lot of changes. I spent a short time working at Cold Stone before getting an internship at the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology. Around this time, I also met the woman who I would eventually marry (and who would eventually become my ex-wife). Life seemed great. I had a good job, school was going well, and I had finally met someone who could stand being around me. We had a short time were we were actually "broken up", but it made us realize how much we wanted to be together. We went on trips together- with the biggest one being a road trip from Billings, MT to Flagstaff, AZ, to San Antonio, TX and back for 1 week for Spring Break. It was an amazing trip. Despite roommate problems, it ended up being a pretty good year.

That summer I went back to the Boy Scout camp I worked at, but as the Business Manager. I needed a business internship to get my business degree, and so it provided the perfect opportunity to keep working at camp but get that done. It was an okay summer- friendships changed, but the fishing was still great. Then came my last year of college. I worked my ass off. I kept working as an intern at the Bureau of Mines and Geology, while taking full course loads to get my classes for my majors AND for grad school. Things with the lady were going well, so I popped the question and she said yes! I also studied for the GRE and applied for a few grad schools for Geology. We found out about a radio contest for a wedding at the Zoo, and so we entered. It took over 3 months before they were down to 3 couples, and we won! It paid for a lot of things and was valued at around $10,000. So we set a date for that summer (2010). That spring I barely got into one of the grad schools I applied to. I graduated college Magna Cum Laude with a BS degree in Business Management and a BS degree in Geology with a minor in Environmental Science.

That summer I spent the entire time doing research in a lab. I did make it back for a short time to Camp, because it really is like a second home. My wife moved out with me and we began actually living together. That year was extremely difficult. I was under pressure to write an entire thesis, while fixing bad data, taking classes, and living with my wife. It just didn't all work. I pushed on and finally graduated with my MS degree in Geology after making some big discoveries and living with my wife for a year. I tried finding a job and after over 80 applications, I got 5 interviews and just 2 job offers. So I packed up and moved back to Montana to start work on the oil rigs as a geologist.

This year has been rough. The job requires me to be gone for weeks at a time, in the middle of nowhere, with poor cell service, and no set schedule. It really took a toll not only on myself, but on my marriage. Without getting into too many details, we were just two very different people at different points of our lives. I was ready to move forward, and she didn't want to grow up. I completely agree that some people just want to GET married, and not actually BE married. While I was away, working over 80 hours a week in horrible places, she cheated on me with a woman. She had said she was always bi and I accepted it all. I even said she could maybe see a woman if I met them, it was all comfortable, etc. But this was something horrible. She lied about it, she tried to hide it, and around then just gave up. She wanted a divorce. It took me some time, but I decided that because it is suppose to be a life-long commitment that we should try to make it work. Shortly after, we headed to Alaska for what was suppose to finally be our 'honeymoon' (in December). The trip went okay, but it was already gone. She wouldn't put effort in and wouldn't try. January came and went and I turned everything around- trying to be the best husband. Then, right around the end of January, she came clean that she hadn't stopped seeing the person that she cheated on me with like she promised. I kicked her (she took the dog) out, and we got divorced. She claims she is now a lesbian and that was why our relationship never really took off, and I still don't know if I believe her. The divorce hit me really hard, and since then I've come a long way.

So now, I am living alone in BILLINGS, MT and working my life away. I have more money than I have ever had, and have found some freedom in being able to buy what I want, and go on trips to anywhere at (almost) any time. I still go back to the Boy Scout camp at least once a year, and have been trying to make it to more UMD hockey games. I've left some other parts of my life out that aren't too important, but there it is.

Geez, I freaking loved looking at these pictures. I just wanted to say you HAVE seemed to come a long way since your divorce. I've noticed it in you when you're on IRC and stuff. I'm always around if you want to chit chat or need some support. You're doing good though :3 it's nice to see you in a better place.

When I was in Kindergarten I moved. I being the young child I was dug in the back yard for cool treasures.
I found one.
A cute pikachu. It was one of the pikachu's that came in a pokeball and had a keychain that came out.
However this was just the pikachu.
I had watched the show and I loved pikachu.
That poor pikachu was on my person from that moment forward to 5th grade, when it disappeared. (I'm guessing my my parents) However when this happened it was to late to stop my addiction. I had played every pokemon game every made.
My addiction has continued to this day I have only skipped one game, of white and black I only played Black, but that was because I could not afford white.

It was about 6 years ago and the last of my pet rats died. I was thinking about getting more rats, but I was enjoying the company of my roommates dog and I wanted that. So I started looking around on petfinder.com for my first dog. It was at this time I noticed that a lot of the shelters where I was living didn't allow students to adopt. I didn't let it get me down, I had already considered how much time, money, and opportunities I would have to give up if I decided to get a dog. I looked around and got an idea of what kind of dog I wanted, 50-75 pounds, very chill, not very active, and good looking. I also had vetoed a few breeds as well boxers were ugly and stupid, pitbulls were evil (I own a Pitbull now), German shepherds were too smart for their own good, Great Danes were too big, and pugs and Shar-pei s were ugly as hell. One day after a few weeks of looking I noticed there was a new dog at one of the shelters, it was a boxer/Shar-pei mix. I remember thinking to myself "that has to be the ugliest, stupidest dog ever". I clicked on the profile because I wanted to see just how ugly this dog was. I wasn't expecting to fall in love.

I made an appointment with the shelter to see him at one of their adoption events that weekend. It was a longest 4 days ever and during this time I kept on having dreams of a dog with a green collar. I don't believe in any of that dream stuff, but for the rest of the week I kept on seeing dogs with green collars in my dreams. Anyways, the day came and I got to meet my new friend.

When I got to the store that the shelter was having their adoption event I spotted him right away. He was much bigger than I had expected but it didn't matter at this point because I noticed that he had a green collar. We clicked right away and he came home with me.

It's been 6 years since I adopted him and we have been best of friends. He was with me when my mother died, has been my shoulder to cry on and makes me get out of bed every day even when I have been too depressed to do anything at all. He has cost me a lot of money because of some unknown allergy that 3 vets haven't been able to figure out. I haven't been able to go on any spur of the moment road trips, or been able to move where ever I want, and like any 11 year old dog, he had become bigger and stinkier, but I wouldn't give him up for anything. I love my big ugly mutt

In 1981 I was given up for adoption by a crazy cajun women to crazy German people. lol I sort of was the sore thumb sticking out in the family, never quite fitting in. My parents were extremely religious and opposed to medical intervention, so the medical stuff I was born with because my biological mom was a junkie while pregnant caused me a lot of problems growing up.
I grew up in the woods, on a farm. Over 400 acres of horses and cows and emus that we raised, plus a house crop. When my dads union job took him all over the country, I was hauled along and lived on the couch in various travel trailers, but we always came home to our farm.
Growing up alone like that, with my dad being super alchoholic, and my mom bipolar it was difficult. I wrote a lot, which made me who I am today, so I refuse to complain too much about it. I was made to be tough, and all the neglect just seasoned me for the rest of my life.
I was smart, and graduated high school at 15 and college at 19. I got married at 18 and had my daughter 9 days after I turned 19 with only one semester to go in college. She was beautiful and she changed who I was ... a sullen hurting victim, into a tough and focused woman.
I met my husband a while after that, after medical problems took away my ability to work. I was on dialysis with a death sentance because of organ failure, and he didn't care. He came into our lives and fixed me. He gave me hope for life and kept me going until my body kicked back in. I always tell people he saved me.
I got better, and got worse and the better again. I had more babies against doctors orders, got cancer, got over it, and keep going. He keeps me going. My body is kind of shot, too many parts missing, and too many things wrong, but he is the glue that holds me together.. he is the fuel that keeps my engine running...

I'm a survivor, and a mother, and a wife, and a writer.. At least this week.

I am a 14 year old Canadian male. I'm a huge fan of movies and hockey, and am currently watching Lawrence of Arabia for the first time (Amazing movie).

I have a few small stories I can tell, from an autistic bully who affected me and my class for 9 years (He's actually cool now, though) to a whole bunch of unwarranted detentions at our school (My brother got detention for saying "What's goin' on?" to a teacher who was yelling at another student... Our school is a bit strict).

A lot of my friends consider themselves depressed, or they have a lot of depressing stories to tell, but as for me, I'm an optimistic guy. I have problems, sure, but I have good parents, a few friends, two siblings who annoy me, but aren't anything abnormal, and an amazing dog, who I mentioned earlier.

... And that's about it. I'm just a normal guy who'll be molded by adults into a job that's worthy to society, followed by my inevitable death. Just like everyone else. And I'm okay with that.

Started all the way in the south east of England in a little town called Eastbourne, which is near Brighton. Fun fact, while Brighton is the biggest male homosexual community in the UK, Eastbourne has the biggest Lesbian community in the UK. Not the porno kind..mostly.

Anyway where was I, ah yes, shortly after turning 2 or 3, we moved to slough, where my dad worked at Mars chocolate factory :DD It was like he was willy wonka to me.. I got to taste test the original Harry Potter sweets before they were released to the general public.

Then things turned a little sour.. my parents got divorced and from there I became a somewhat lonely person. From grades 1 to 6, I was in a different school each year. My mum moved me around a lot, and finally, she found someone else, and we settle down in Ascot, where the Horses race every year and from there, I started building some good relationships with people, and created friendships I still have today, my best friend being a guy called Otto. I'm not saying it was any better, I still got my fair share of bullying, for how I looked, what I am and because of that, I'm a self-conscious wreck, but I'm getting better, and feeling better with each day that passes.

Fast forward the next 5 or so years and I start heading towards Sixth form, (which I believe is senior high in America), and started focusing my studies on Economics and Mathematics. The 2 years went by and I am where I am today, at University in the city of Portsmouth, UK, studying Economics and finance. It's okay, just finished my first year, but it wasn't as... big as everyone makes out to be? I don't know.. One day I want to work on Wall street, be one of the big wolves or an Economics Professor, teaching others, helping them, where others didn't help me.

But anyhow, I'm happy, because of July last year I met a very special girl. A beautiful señorita, whose name I won't mention.. being the internet and all. We've been together almost 12 months now, and am currently in an LDR. We get to spend 2 months together this summer and I am over the moon in terms of happiness, excitement and joy.

Hiya. I'll try to keep this as short as possible. MASSIVE TRIGGER WARNING FOR SELF-INJURY

Mental illness runs in my blood. I should have known it was coming for me, but I didn't. High school isn't easy for anyone, and I was no exception. I didn't think things would be as painful as they were, though. On my fourteenth birthday, I cut for the first time. I just used a regular shaving razor and slid it sideways; I barely drew blood. About six months later was the first "real" time, after a friend sent me a letter telling me she and all my other friends hated me, with a pair of scissors. A few weeks later I stole a straight razor blade from biology lab and didn't look back.

Somewhere around the end of the school year I made a commitment to get skinnier. I was always slender, I think I was just unused to the curves that came with puberty. I'd always hated gym class due to being teased all the time, and I hated working out. I created a Xanga and soon found an unhealthy community and dove in.

For the next two years, I struggled with a burgeoning addiction to self-injury and an obsession with my body. I hated it. I felt I was huge. I tracked my weight obsessively; I would restrict and then binge. I would lie awake at night, finally eating a few Triscuits to soothe my stomach enough to get to sleep. I passed out at my job twice because I hadn't eaten anything that day. I cut words onto my thighs - after my first big scar on my arm, which I made during a rehearsal for our school musical after hating how I couldn't dance, I moved there - freak, fuckup, and most importantly, fat. I hated myself. I wouldn't let people touch me some days because I couldn't bear the touch of flesh against my own.

I don't know how it happened. I got lucky. Senior year of high school I had a boyfriend I cared about, an acceptance to the school of my dreams, a good support system. I took my first yoga class in February, an attempt to find exercise I didn't hate so I could work out more and maybe achieve the perfect body. Instead, over those months, my cutting became less and less. So did my hatred for my body. Things got so much better.

I've already rambled. At one point I stopped cutting for 571 days; today, I'm at just over a momnth. I will get there again, somehow. I'm studying Psychology and about to be a senior. I credit yoga, therapy and medication with my recovery. Dealing with my depression, anxiety, eating disorder - it's not easy. But there is hope, and there is help. I want to combine yoga and traditional therapy and help people. I don't know who yet - if I want to have a "typical" practice and just use yoga, or if I want to teach yoga to veterans or kids or what. But I do know that I feel a calling to help others. I don't want anyone to suffer or feel as alone as I did.

[–]smappleI'm not here enough to warrant a list but I'll take a hug!0 points1 point2 points3 years ago(0 children)

I have a history with self harm as well. I hadn't touched it for about a year until I quit smoking when I had my baby. Its tough to deal with things and I just want to say I understand some of what you have to deal with. If you need to talk you can pm me anytime.

I've lived in 4 different cities, all in WA state, my entire life. I'm 34 and didn't go back to school until I was in my late 20s. By the time I graduate in a year, I'll have been in college for 8 years. It's been a long, long road!

4 years ago I was living on the other side of the state where I had moved to start nursing school, came home for spring break, got my nose pierced and went to a house party that same night where some heavy drinking occurred. I broke my ankle and spent the next entire school term in a wheelchair. The week before finals I found out I had a blood infection and started IV antibiotics. I spent that summer in the hospital getting antibiotic infusions and having 4 surgeries in 4 months.

Moved back home to finish up nursing school here (YAY for two campuses!), now I have one year left of school and being broke until I can graduate and get a job. Being 34 and living with mom and dad blows, but sacrifices are so worth it for what I'm doing!

I recently decided to get healthy and started a modified keto diet. Having lost 10 lbs in the past month I'm switching things up a bit to try and continue the weight loss.

I'm 24, recent college graduate, living with my parents still, working 2 jobs just to barely make it by. My student loans are basically ruining my life, and I regret going to college. My degree is in journalism, a dying field. But I chose it because I wanted to do something I was good at, something I enjoyed. I didn't want to take the practical route. I don't regret my major at all, just the fact that I spent 5 years and $50k for a degree in something I already had a natural talent for. I have been single for a few years now after leaving a 5 year long psychologically abusive relationship. I feel like such a stronger person now, having gotten myself out of that situation. It's something I never thought I'd be capable of. My parents don't even know I was ever in a relationship, because the circumstances would've been extremely frowned upon. So even during the rough stages of breaking up, I had no one to talk to about what I was dealing with. I doubt if I'll ever tell my parents what happened. It's difficult to think that I'll have to live my entire life keeping a secret from them.

It's not all bad though. I have a sister, /u/scrumtrelescent, who is my best friend. I don't even know if she realizes that she is. I have friends who care for me, co-workers who look out for me, and a potential promotion on the horizon. My car may be breaking down, but I'm lucky to have one. I'm lucky to be alive and relatively healthy. A lot of people can't say the same. So with the bad comes a lot of good, and it balances everything out nicely.

I don't know what the future has in store, but I'm ready for whatever it offers me!

I don't remember much of my life growing up until middle school, I remember I was a shy kid, liked to read, didn't have a lot of friends. My best friend as a child died in middle school, so that was hard on me. I'm not sure I've ever really recovered from it. 9/7/2001. I don't remember 9/11 because of that.

Throughout high school, I generally went to class, was that smart kid that didn't have friends, played in the orchestra, and generally did awesome on paper. But I had a lot of conflict at home with my family as well as inside myself. I'd played with the idea of suicide many times.

Taking a side note, I became involved with a guy my sophomore year and about a year after high school we go engaged. Unfortunately, he went off to the military, and eventually the relationship ended because we grew too far apart and other things...

I met a lot of guys on the internet, who were manipulative, cruel, and generally screwed up my life for 3 years. During this time I became obsessive with WoW, and very good at it as well, and I realize now that this was a way for me to cope with my life. It was a way to deal with all the feelings. I just wasn't good at getting close to people like I needed to be. That takes a lot of work, and I wasn't willing to put time into a relationship that could someday cease to exist. I ended up moving back home during college and working part time while going to school. Another tangent - started in engineering program, didn't like it and didn't go to class, so I almost flunked out! Switched to computer science, which was cool cause I learned to program a little, and then ended up moving to the field of Social Work after volunteering at a poorer school in the area.

I think that my path educationally went this way because I needed to do something to give back to the world. I could feel good and be productive, and honestly, I may have helped people, but they helped me just as much. I had some shitty things happen to me and I'd done shitty things in those 3 years of terribad relationships. Side note - along with the internet men, I had some pretty bad IRL stuff, such as used for sex while leading me on for a relationship. I was kinda desperate for attention and love. But that's not the way to go about it, which I know now.

Gonna fast forward through the growing period of my life. I tried about 3 therapists, but didn't like them, I'm kinda bullheaded. Through being in my program (social work), I learned about myself. It's a great program. I learned to understand what I felt and how to talk to people slowly, bit by bit. I learned to reach out a little. And that's going to be a lifelong process. I'm quite introverted and shy. In the meantime, I kept myself busy with work, cleaning, and still WoW, but with some boundaries.

So, somehow, I did not fail out of college, but got my Bachelors in Social Work, and went on to the Master's program because I couldn't find a job. During this time I met my current boyfriend, whom is understanding, and generally wonderful. I was finally at a place where I could be in a healthy relationship, I just had to work on myself first to get there, and it was worth it. But of course, I still work on myself. I know now, I have to be emotionally more healthy, not necessarily all the way there, but a general understanding of how I operate and what my issues are helps immensely.

My passion in life is to help others, to help them with their problems, to show them tools and how to use them to better their life, to learn about themselves, to improve their circumstances or relationships. I love the broken and beat down. I want people to know that no matter what has happened to them, there is always hope. Even in the darkest of places.

I graduated with my master's about a month ago, and landed an amazing job working as both a drug and alcohol group therapist and an individual therapist for mental health issues. Everything that I've been through has been worth it to get to where I am today. I wouldn't have the insight I have if things hadn't been that way.

Today in my life, I'm working on moving to a nicer place, have much more income than I thought I would at this point in my life, and things are generally going very well for me. As I look back, it's incredible that I got here.

There is always hope. That's what I want this story of my life to say.

I'm a 21 year old British business student. After doing a months work experience in China and spending some time in South Korea I went to study in Singapore for a year.

While there I managed to visit China, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, North Korea and Dubai (family holiday).

I have just returned, and am running a marathon in Tromso, Norway in 2 weeks. Then I think I am visiting my friend in Hungary, and then flat sitting for my uncle in Istanbul.

It is pretty lonely here at the moment, since I live in a small town and most of my friends are only just returning from uni.

My new hobby is learning languages, which I have been keeping up for about 4 months. (well, je l'ai appris francais pendant quatre muis). I think learning languages is really fun. Yesterday was Hebrew day, today I did French and Russian.

Had a rough time growing up, was bullied relentlessly because I was poor, bisexual, non-christian and had no friends.
struggled, and still struggle with some mental illness and learning disability and I have a seriously ill mother who I try really hard to make proud. Went through several abusive (mental and physical) relationships before I find Mr.Nice guy. Mr. Nice guy leaves, slump into serious depression, attempt suicide... wind up clawing my way up out of the hole I made and becoming a lead youth mental health advocate and currently dating a wonderful and understanding woman who reminds me of a mythical tree person. Graduated with my associates in science in human service last fall, want to go back and get my counseling licence. I hope one day to be able to help people get through things like I went through.

Still broke and struggling, but a lot happier than i've been in a long time.

I was born and raised in Bethany, Oklahoma almost all my life. My mom and dad ware fantastic parents, but unfortunately they passed away when I was young. My dad passed away right after my 7th birthday, and my mom passed away when I was 16. I then moved in with my brother and his family in Yukon, which was a huge change for me. I was able to still go to my same High School, but the trip back and forth sucked. Plus, I love the city, and he lived in the middle of no where.

Living with my brother and his family was a complete nightmare for the 2 years I was there, and the second I was able to get out and go to college I bolted.

Around this same time (at the end of my senior year, and several years of many crazy/good times, so to speak), I met this girl during a Senior orchestra trip to Chicago. We started talking, and figuring "Fuck it, mind as well", I asked her for her number. We went on several dates during the summer, and then officially started going out.

Ever since then, she's been a pain in my ass, but I love her more than I ever could imagine. I went to college, as did she (at a separate school), and I finished my degree in 2010. May of 2010: I graduated and walked to get my Business Marketing BBA on May 8th, had my birthday on May 15th, and got married on May 22. It was a pretty crazy and hectic month!

Along with that, I had JUST started my over-night warehouse job at a particularly large beverage company, and quickly moved up to corporate. Though I'm not making my millions, I like my job and I'm glad to be there still (even with TONS of changes lately and the TONS of stress I've been under). It pays some of the bills, and buys some groceries. I guess I can't complain too much.

Exactly one year ago (well, on May 30th) we bought our first house in NW Oklahoma City, and promptly moved it. We have another married couple (and a fellow redditor) that we're great friends with and live right down the street from us, and even just went to dinner with the other night. So, life's pretty good overall.

My wife's still in school, finishing her Vet Tech degree and moving on to Biology.

That's the jist of my story, with many details left out (I didn't want to bore you :3).

I am currently a 22 year old college senior who is married to a wonderful man and has two fluffy kitties.

I was always sort of a loner in school. The other kids said I was too annoying so they never wanted to hang out with me. I admit I did talk a lot, but that only seemed to be a bad thing from me. The other kids who talked a lot had friends. My dad died when I was 10 and my mom died when I was 14, both from cancer. That definitely helped me to grow up and become more mature than I was (and I was VERY immature). I'm not sure I'd be where I am today if I hadn't gone through that. In high school, I was part of the Orchestra and a strolling strings group (String Sounds), and I still have one very close friend I made from that. Actually, he's a close friend of both mine and my husband's.

I dated this one guy all through high school. He proposed at my senior prom and I said yes. And then I noticed he stopped being sweet and wanting to do things together. It was almost like he put the ring on it, so nothing else was needed. Well, he made me feel like shit, a lot. Telling me I'd never make him happy and the like. I had this guy tell me I deserved better and helped me find strength to get out of the relationship. My ex basically stalked me and ruined several of my friendships by spreading lies and rumors about me. I moved on and tried to make more out of my life. He still works at McDonalds and I'm pretty sure has changed his major at least once. The guy who got me out that that crap engagement? Yeah, that's my hubby.

From a young age I always loved animals. I blame my oldest brother for taking me to the zoo at LEAST once (usually more) a year. It's because of him I know that I want to move forward and pursue a career at a zoo. Right now I have an internship which will help me gain needed experience and networking. I graduate in December, and from there I hope to move onto a career at a zoo in animal education. I love teaching people about wildlife. It's truly my passion. My big dream would be to have Jack Hanna's job one day. We'll see if I get there.

Don't be. It was rough at the time, but it really did teach me a lot about myself and it helped me become who I am today. And to be honest...I do not think I could have afforded college if I were considered a dependent. Being considered "independent" on the FAFSA opened up a lot of options for grants and low interest loans for me.

My story. This could be longish. I'll try to give the abridged version. I'm a California girl, born and bred, been here my whole life. My parents got divorced when I was but a little Stabling. I spent my weekends shuttling between parents houses and one month a summer at Daddy Day Camp eating all the pizza and ice cream my young stomach could digest. We went to Disneyland often and it still feels like my home away from home.

I'm turning 30 in September. I graduated from college with a bachelor's degree in Graphic Design and have been working in the industry for over 4 years. I'm currently on temporary assignment with a manufacturing company, designing packaging for products sold by Macys, Kohls, Walgreens, Wal-Mart, Target and more. Go shopping sometime this holiday season, you'll likely see a product I created the packaging for.

I am a serial monogamist with a long line of broken relationships on the path behind me. I'm currently dating a lovely man who is a musician and electronics technician. We've been together for over a year and have no end in sight, but we also don't plan on getting married. My relationships in the past have been a major source of depression and anxiety for me. I'm in therapy for bipolar disorder and GAD, which run in my family. I've been through some serious hardships in life but have always come out the other side more or less intact. Realizing I can survive all of the things I thought would destroy me has given me a new strength and a new will to stay positive and offer love and support to others.

I started out in Korea, then a stork brought me over to DC. My parents loved me a lot. They got me a brother. Then they went a tad bit crazy. They split, so the crazy decreased slightly. Fast forward to my early twenties. I wanted a change, a BIG one, so moved a few states away. I'm a big giant baby and moved back to my home state within two years. I'm currently working a job I don't really like, but my circumstances won't permit me to do much else. I'm looking to change what I can though, little by little. Now? I'm not looking back. I'm tired of living in regret and fear. I'm not running away towards anything anymore. I'm only moving towards my own happiness.

I was born after Christmas in 1990 in Dallas, TX. For the first 6 years of my life I was an only child. That is, until my parents adopted my baby sister from China.

School was hell for me. I was bullied all the time. I got daily beatings from kids at school, was pushed around, cornered after school by punk kids who had no reason to hate me... It was hell. I grew up going to church, but decided towards the end of 8th grade that I was an atheist. I still went to church because if I didn't then my parents would take away my laptop, aka my runescape machine.

I was depressed when I was a kid. I hated everyone and everything. I thought about suicide once, but by some miracle I didn't. It was after that dark day that I randomly decided to go to church camp. It was at church camp that I started considering God again.

A few weeks later I learned that i was signed up to go to a youth conference without me knowing. By this time I was a believer again. I was hesitant about going, but figured that it couldn't hurt. I'm so glad that I went, because it was at the conference that I learned about the reality of human trafficking, and how dark it was. It was then that I learned how big depression and suicide is among youth. It was then that I decided that I wanted to work with students.

That was 5 years ago. Today I am 22 and working on a degree in student ministry because I care about students. I love working with kids and can't see myself doing anything but working with them. Kids are the future.

Right now I'm going to a VA state school and doing their pre-theology program. After undergrad I hope to go to Reformed Theological Seminary in either Memphis or D.C. (but there is a very good chance those plans will change and God will take me elsewhere.) :)

That's awesome! I went to a relatively small private school in Nashville for freshman year and loved the relationships I had with my professors, but transferred. I'm really not excited about being 1 in 18,000 in the fall.

Um ill try a go at this:) I am from a very small place in Michigan which is like 90% amish and cows... i moved to the hell hole of south Florida when i was young but got the amazing experience of being able to spend half the year here and half there.My Family (Mom Step Dad Brothers) moved to north florida when i was 21, i stayed here. I had some very rough years doing it on my own, with some people that pretty much suck. I one day decided to start all over so i randomly moved farther south to Fort Lauderdale. There i had some other shity roomates but ultimately met my husband, so it worked out good. We got married a year and a half ago and i havent killed him yet (WIN!), we have two cats a dog and two turtles but in october we are moving from our tiny 1/1 apartment to the grandiose 2/2 across the complex so the animals can romp more:) i work at a call center customer service which i hate but hope to go to school soon for paralegal. I spend way too much time at the beach at night, i sleep often and i am on here a shit load. I have amazing friends who are my family and i am a very lucky girl. Tis the short story of Chica:)

There is really not to tell about me except I was bullied throughout school, my parents divorced fairly recently, lost my job recently, I suffer from severe anxiety and depression.

I have a cat called Loki, who is adorable as it gets.
I live with my dad right now.
I enjoy food, but can be very picky about it.
Music I am open to a lot.
Movies I enjoy comedy mostly, but a good horror can entertain just as well.